


Remnant the Game: Co-Op Mode

by MrStranger



Category: RWBY
Genre: Game System as a character, Gamer fic, Redemption, Team ATIR (Attire), Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23894473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrStranger/pseuds/MrStranger
Summary: Four people find one night that a God has visited their dreams, and has decided to make them 'Gamers.' Now these four will compete for the power to change the fate of Remnant as they see fit. Will they be allies? Enemies? With an uncertain future, all that can be trusted is that that only those who thrive in this world of bloody evolution shall prosper.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1: A Fun New Game to Play
> 
> Welcome to the beginning of my first RWBY fic and my first Gamer fic. Now, I know that Gamer fics are pretty over used, but I would like to hope that I can break the mould to some degree. I don't remember anyone who had four Gamers as the immediate focus of the plot. Regardless, I don't own RWBY or I would not have so much bitterness for this series.

xXx Jaune Arc xXx

  
  


Jaune Arc sighed as he settled in for the night like so many others around him, the cover of his rabbit-themed onesie not bringing him the comfort he thought it would or should have inspired within him. He was not expecting such zealous laughter at his expense when he stepped out of the bathroom after changing but he supposed he shouldn't have been too surprised. His interactions with others in the past had mostly been along the same line, even amongst his family.

He was used to being the butt of every joke, but he had hoped coming to Beacon would have given him a chance to leave that part of his life behind him. If anything, it almost felt worse. These were supposed to be his Comrades-in-Arms after the following day. How was he supposed to fight and bleed alongside them if they were too busy laughing at him for not matching up?

He had made a fast friend in Ruby Rose at least, who had the most ridiculous weapon he'd ever seen in his life and was probably more accident prone than even himself. She was cute, in an innocent way that reminded him of his younger sisters. Sweet and honest, unlike her blond sister who was a definitive bombshell of a woman.

It was nice to not be the most awkward person in the room, even if it were only for a moment. That moment had passed when he laid eyes upon what he would call perfection given a female form, one that was unknown to him in all but physical appearance. When she, the flawless one, referred to him as tall, blond and scraggly, he felt as if his entire existence had finally become vindicated.

He didn't know what scraggly meant, but the tall and blond parts were complimentary enough to make him assume it was something good. Jaune wasn't used to receiving compliments from anyone, let alone someone as beautiful as the precious white haired, blue eyed angel had been. He was humbled by her kindness, and his drive to succeed had been forced to heights he hadn't thought possible before.

She left him a blubbering mess in her wake, though the effect she seemed to have on him didn't last long.

It was long enough, though.

He heard whispering from behind him, and soon it was made clear that it was apparently a joke being passed between friends. A joke he was likely pinned to the end of, as both sets of eyes full of mirth were locked onto him.

They were guys like him, in the fact they were obviously male. Those were the only similarities between them as far as Jaune could tell. He tried to pay them no mind, and instead turned his attention towards the front of the room.

They didn't matter, nor did their words. He was sure they would be eating them eventually, anyway.

Jaune was an Arc, and he was going to do what the Arc's do best. He would fight for those who could not fight.

The last thing Jaune felt before he drifted to sleep was not fear, however, but determination. With a final promise to himself, the blond faker felt a heavy tug behind his navel and his vision faded completely to black, suddenly far more tired than he had ever been in his life.

_ 'I'll be the best Huntsman Remnant's ever seen, no matter how much I have to struggle! Damn everyone else’s opinion!' _

Thankfully for him fate found a way to make his Dream come true, in the most interesting way possible.

  
  


xXx Ruby Rose xXx

  
  


Ruby Rose was definitely not getting much rest tonight.

It wasn’t out of excitement, even if she felt like a hummingbird with how fast her heart was beating. She had been more excited when she had wished to Santa to bring home Mom so that she didn’t have to just keep looking at an empty grave filled with empty hopes. 

Nor was it sadness, even if she had only made one friend, and enemy, failed completely with that girl with the nice bow, and had to deal with Yang’s overbearing attitude to her. She just wished that she had a few friends from Signal here to talk to, even if they were never really close to her, and they had refused to respond to any other messages after she’d told them what happened at the Dust shop. 

And it certainly wasn’t nerves, since she knew that she would pass tomorrow, otherwise Headmaster Ozpin wouldn’t have invited her. He knew the details of initiation and invited her because he believed she could handle it. 

No, it was none of those things. She wouldn’t be getting much sleep because it was ultimately nothing that she was feeling. And therein lay the problem.

_ “Just smile sweetie, and your happiness will make it all better.” _

Her mother was an incredible Huntress. The greatest of all time if you asked Ruby. Decades ago, her mother had probably slept in this hall, maybe even where Ruby lay right now, excited and nervous and happy and scared and all those incredible feelings, all because she was about to become a Huntress.

And Ruby just felt empty. She felt drained and she wanted to cry but she couldn’t and that just made her feel worse. She wanted to feel all those things her mother did so that she could feel closer to her. But she couldn’t. 

Laying in this hallway, attending this academy, eating cookies to find that one recipe, becoming a huntress, staying, trying to learn how to use her fighting style. What was the point of it all? It was always the same. It was like standing in front of a tombstone over an empty coffin, hoping for some sign to make her hopes valid.

“Well, this is no time for that.” She muttered aloud as she shifted her position to look at the ceiling, plastering a smile over her face as she pictured her mother doing the same. She had three years to figure out just who her mother was. Three years to become a Huntress her mother would be proud of. But still...

_ ‘I just wish I could've known you better.’ _

And while her wish would not be granted tonight, she would instead get the tools to grant it herself. 

  
  


xXx Adam Taurus xXx 

  
  


It had been one of those months. Adam Taurus was well aware of how bizarre it must have been, even by the standards of a freedom fighter with magical soul powers. 

First Blake had outright abandoned the cause, and vanished off the face of Remnant. Adam had checked with everyone he could find, learning a sum total of nothing about his protégé’s whereabouts. He also knew from checking in with a few friends back on Menagerie that she hadn't returned to her parents. A few hours later that wretched bitch and her two lackeys had the audacity to walk into his camp and attack his men to force them to aid her in her mad plans to attack Vale. The arrogance, the sheer impunity of her smug facade, was truly insulting. 

He would make her pay for every drop of blood she had spilt, every burned wound that needed to heal, and every charred body he had needed to bury.

Then there was that incident with their current guests slash reinforcements, the Albain brothers and their small entourage, getting into a drunken brawl in camp, sending some of the more experienced guards to the infirmary. At least he was able to make them pay by putting them on latrines for the next month. If this didn't get them to stop with the horseshit then nothing would. 

And after that it was more and more requests for money and dust from R&D to aid in the research into developing their own equivalents to the Atlesian Knights. By the Gods, Perry was just haemorrhaging supplies better spent elsewhere. He could think of several other groups in their camp who would have certainly appreciated getting the level of funding and Dust supplies that Perry got. How much Dust had he burnt through on his fusion project? Probably half of what other cells would use in a full year. But High Leader Khan had made it clear that they were not to refuse funding to the scientists developing superior equipment for the cause.

This was all just context for why exactly he had stayed up several hours past the beginning of the night shift in order to properly manage their various budget and supply resources. And he still needed to be up several hours before it was reasonable to organise the morning drills for the brand new recruits from Menagerie. God... they were so green that Adam swore if they went into the forest, he would never be able to spot them through the foliage. They would need a lot more training before he would feel comfortable sending them out on missions. 

And even if it was nice seeing Ilia again, she was only an example of the problems. She was decently trained, had a natural talent for infiltration and stealth, ignoring her incredibly versatile natural abilities. But she was still cocky, arrogant, and very inexperienced. He’d seen her fighting in that brawl the other day. And while it was a good showcase of her general skills with combat and hand to hand, it reflected poorly on her discipline that she had allowed herself to get emotionally compromised and join in. He doubted that it would take more than an insult or two by a human before she would blow her cover. And this was ignoring her... less than rudimentary control over her abilities. 

At least she would be here, with him, where he could keep an eye on her and help correct these mistakes. 

Thankfully, that was all dealt with and so he walked back to his rather Spartan tent to try and rest himself for at least some time.

Adam tended to fall asleep slowly as well, which only worsened his mood. He only afforded himself the comfort of a mattress that occupied his personal quarters, and it was only a few steps up from the uncomfortable steel of the gurney from the infirmary, since it was a mattress stolen from the Dust mine that showed him the truth of this world. He had made sure that all of the money that would normally go to amenities went to small comforts for Blake. Blake...

He still didn’t get it. He knew she had always been at least somewhat distant to the true hardships his people faced, something that he and Sienna had encouraged. They both knew that the sweet girl that she was couldn’t handle some of the things that they had suffered. Couldn’t even comprehend in ways, since he for the duration of her apprenticeship to him he had never once allowed her to see that mark on his face. But still... to just abandon the cause like that, to abandon all of the people who called her family, to abandon him, who couldn’t help but find her like a sister, the only source of hope and light in all these dark years?

It was like everything that they had all shared with her meant nothing.

And so, tired and mournful, regretting so much over things he did not know or understand, and hoping that his apprentice was in good health, Adam Taurus fell into a fitful rest.

But this was not the end of his evening. 

  
  


xXx Ilia Amitola xXx 

  
  


Ilia was not in a very happy mood. It would be more accurate to say her mood was dreadful. Other suitable terms would be low, sad, mildly depressed, and very angry.

The only reason she was here in Vale, having accompanied the Albain's to this damp forest, was to see her friends again. It had been so long since she had seen Blake and Adam, since she wasn’t strong enough to join them on their mission to aid the practically non-existent Vale chapter and build it up into a worthy chapter. And according to High Leader Khan, they had succeeded beyond all expectations, making the Vale Cell one of their strongest assets.

When she arrived though, it shattered whatever illusions she held about this place. The people here weren’t stronger than anyone else, just more willing to throw themselves into danger no matter how much it cost them. And while they succeeded and triumphed, these victories came at the costs of a lot of members being left with a lot of scars.

The worst of it was Adam. He wasn’t the shy and awkward guy who just wanted to do right and save his people. Now he had been hardened by their war into a much colder man who would stop at nothing to see their enemies struck down. She almost hadn’t recognised him, with how different he was compared to how she knew him.

At least he cared enough to greet her. He hadn’t forgotten her, and even offered to help her train to get stronger. Unlike Blake, who had apparently abandoned them all and turned traitor. Adam had told them that they were to follow their standard procedure for deserters and just leave her be, but Ilia and some of them weren’t content to just leave things be. Unfortunately she shared her views with Fennec Albain, and he had gotten Corsac, who was already getting everyone at the camp acquainted with the booze they had brought from Menagerie, and it all devolved into a brawl after they had made a few rude comments about Adam and his leadership too many. Served them right.

Now however, Ilia was being forced to help fill in for the shifts of the guards who had gotten injured. It wasn’t that it was dangerous or anything, just that it was boring. Being forced to stand at attention for hours on end in the same spot, the only entertainment she had being the damp forest filled with chirping that she tried to guess the bird for. It only got worse when it started raining and it took someone two hours to realise she hadn’t been brought in.

At least Adam had given her his coat after that, for her to use for the rest of her time there if she got cold. It was really comfortable, and she hoped he didn’t have any attachment to it that would upset him when it went suspiciously ‘missing' and definitely didn’t appear in her luggage after she had returned to Menagerie. 

But those were thoughts for another time. Where she wasn’t sad, cold, and tired. A time where she didn’t have to miss her friends, both here and elsewhere. As she lay herself down for the evening, she hoped that she would be feeling better in the morning. 

Of course, she wouldn’t be getting much rest this evening. 

  
  


The Realm of Creation:

  
  


Atop an almost lifeless mountain covered in barren rocks and thick clouds of dust, was a garden paradise. Pools and streams of clear water ran through as mighty trees carved through the sky while plants of beautiful colours that had not been seen in centuries wove through the foliage and gave life to the canvas of this Eden. At the entrance was a red Torii gateway at the top of a stairway that wove across the mountain, where four bodies appeared mid-air, three of them quickly landed on their feet.

"Ah! -Oof!" The fourth one landed on the 'ground' with his face. "Ow."

"Jaune?" One of the three asked, a young girl with silver coloured eyes and a red hood.

"Ruby?" The boy with blond hair and a ridiculous onesie, Jaune, asked as he got to his feet. "What happened? Where are we?"

Before Ruby could answer, she froze, and not because of something arbitrary, her whole being was froze on the spot against her will.

**"I will answer your questions."** A bored and cold voice echoed throughout the void. **"In the meantime, I won't allow you to kill each other. I wasted far too much time choosing you all just to be forced to find replacements."**

It wasn't just Ruby who was frozen, so was Jaune, and the two other people.

A bull Faunus dressed in a black coat with a red rose pattern winding around it was frozen with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

The girl with red hair and brown scales hidden by her black and grey Uniform and her horned mask was holding a gun out, frozen in the motion of aiming it.

**"My apologies. I have called the four of you here, and 'here' is just a pocket dimension I created."** The voice answered, stepping in front of them to reveal a man in a black three piece suit, white leather gloves, and a white void in place of his head. In one hand he leaned on a cane while another held a beatbox of all things that rested on his shoulder. 

**"To answers your unspoken questions, I am the Stranger, your God. Admittedly not your first God, but after they left I took over."** Stranger said, and they all reeled back in shock, freedom of motion returned as they all stepped back, wary of the new arrival.  **"Yes, the Gods are real; they are right cunts too. But back to me, why I am great, and why you are here. I have decided to make you four Gamers. The world will exist as a game, and you shall take up the role of the players."**

One of them growled as he flexed his fingers, trying to close his hands around the hilt of his sword even as they were forced away, “A game? You look down on our cause, on my people, and think of them as a game!”

He placed a hand to his chest in faux shock, before elaborating on his point.  **"Oh don't blame me for this. You are already part of a game of course, all of you. Where a Cruel Witch and Foolish Wizard are the players, everyone else the pieces. The Grimm vs Humanity, it's been a game to them because they are immortal, all of society has been shaped by them since the dawn of mankind upon Remnant."**

Adam thought for a moment, before he spoke again. “Do you truly mean all of this world is a result of their actions?”

**"Yes. And to answer your true question, the Witch uses the negative emotions from the Faunus, and The Wizard doesn't think the Faunus are worth his time. Her agents ensure they suffer, and he prioritises dealing with the agents over undoing their damage."** He looked at the rest of his audience and spoke further,  **"All of the tragedies you all have suffered in life can be attributed to their actions and the direct or indirect consequences of them."**

After a pause where they all took some time to process what they had heard, Ilia quietly asked the question they all wished to, “How do we make them pay for what they’ve done to us?”

**"You won't be strong enough to kill them. Not yet and not for some time I'm afraid."** Stranger answered.  **"If, however, you take my offer, I am certain that you will gain the strength necessary to finally put an end to their existence."**

Another pause, before Adam stepped forward, a vengeful look burning behind his mask. “I will take this power.”

**"Great, one down and three to go. Well, huntsmen? I've just promised to give a 'terrorist' power, will you let that slide? The power I wish to give doesn't care for morals, if you wish to use this power to conquer the world, destroy all Grimm, or just run a farm, all are possible. The choice is yours."**

After a longer pause. Ruby and Jaune glanced nervously between each other, finding themselves completely out of their depths in this situation. 

**"There are no strings attached, I don't have a motive besides watching all of you change the world. Eternity is long and dreary, and I find it a good pastime to partake in charity and see the ramifications of my aid."**

  
  


“I’ll do it.” Jaune stepped forward and banged a fist to his chest, “I’ll take up your offer.” Ruby looked on with uncertainty and a hint of betrayal, even as the Stranger looked to her with an outstretched hand.

**“If you take up my offer and follow this path, then you will be able to find out what happened to your mother. And you will be able to avenge what happened to her.”** The red hooded girl stiffened before speeding over to him and shaking his hand rapidly. Until the Stranger pried her off as he waved his hand to cool it off from the friction burns now smoking on his glove. At last, he turned to the last member of the group, who was kneeling on the floor, having fallen there from the shock of what had happened. The god knelt in front of Ilia, tilting her head up to look at him as he placed a hand on her shoulder as a father would their child.

**"Be not afraid my dear, all I have to offer you is the chance to grow in power. You are but a child, a hatchling. But with this power, you can grow far stronger and gain the power to enforce your will and make this world accept your people as equals."** And so Ilia made a choice that was never a choice at all, blinking away tears and nodding once.

With the last one to agree, Stranger clapped his hands together as he pulled a scroll from his sleeves as he began to read off a tick list while they all processed what he was doing.

**"Now, I'll get the basics out of the way. All of us have more important things to do then sit around all day talking about these systems, so don't expect too much detail."**

He waved his hand with a dismissive gesture and small screens appeared in front of everyone, floating in front of their faces.

"On this screen is your status. Only you and the others can see this. Some of you may want to keep this secret though, since it could raise uncomfortable questions for you.”

_ [Name: Jaune Arc _

_ Level: 8 _

_ Title: The Worthless Forgery _

_ Race: Human _

_ S: 8 _

_ P: 7 _

_ E: 6 _

_ C: 15 _

_ I: 10 _

_ A: 6 _

_ L: 15] _

  
  


_ [Name: Ruby Rose _

_ Level: 16 _

_ Title: Adorable Reaper _

_ Race: Human _

_ S: 15  _

_ P: 18 _

_ E: 14 _

_ C: 5 _

_ I: 8 _

_ A: 18 _

_ L: 20] _

  
  


_ [Name: Adam Taurus _

_ Level: 25 _

_ Title: Monster of the Fang _

_ Race: Faunus _

_ S: 50 _

_ P: 30 _

_ E: 50 _

_ C: 15 _

_ I: 35 _

_ A: 40 _

_ L: 2] _

  
  


_ [Name: Ilia Amitola _

_ Level: 14 _

_ Title: Miss Nobody from Nowhere _

_ Race: Faunus _

_ S: 14 _

_ P: 23 _

_ E: 18 _

_ C: 10 _

_ I: 15 _

_ A: 18 _

_ L: 10] _

  
  


**"You can all view these, but only you can see your full status, there'll be a tutorial once you return to your world for a more hands on experience. I will tell you what to expect and some guidelines. There will be Daily Quests each day, simple tasks to accomplish, and they will be unique to each individual day. Although it is more likely that these missions will repeat until there is a change in your daily schedule. There will be some Story Quests, those will take a longer time to complete, and are unique between the four of you. There are also a few “character quests" tailored to you as people. But you certainly won’t be completing those for a while."** Stranger paused to let them grasp what was said.

"What can we expect the Quests to ask of us?" The redheaded Faunus, Adam asked.

**"They won't be unreasonably difficult, and they are made to help you. They also won’t ask of you anything more than what you would already do. A Quest won't ask you to hurt a loved one for no good reason."**

Ruby couldn’t hold her tongue at this. “There is never a good reason to hurt the people who care about you. No matter what, there’s always a better way.”

Adam simply glared lazily at her behind his mask, irritated by her naivety. Sensing the building tension, their host coughed loudly into his glove, before carrying on.

**"Regardless of your moral issues, we have more things for you to look forward to. Such as Skills, Perks, Feats, Loot, and Traits. And that's not even getting into the PvP, variant, ability, or even the PM systems, but those will be explained during the tutorial, because I am bored and don't want to waste my time. I bid you farewell for now, and shall be seeing you all soon."**

Then Stranger snapped his fingers, with all four of them waking with a jolt to the rays of the morning sun. They briefly wondered if it was just a dream, before their attention was called away to more important matters. Whether that be an initiation, a tragic amount of paperwork, or a rotation in the guard’s shift.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More filler than I would like, but I do like it. Hope you like it too.

Ruby was not having a fun time. She had hoped that trying to get everyone to introduce themselves would actually help 

Her sister was still refusing to take her seriously when she told her to stop trying to hug her, not acknowledging her position of Leader and undermining her authority. Blake was just not paying attention to anything at all, content in burying her face in a book now that they were in the privacy of their dorms. And Weiss just would not stop glaring at her, probably because she knew Ruby was as unqualified as she actually was. It was enough to make her want to tear her hair out and just scream-

No.

None of that.

Ruby took a deep breath and smiled at her team, even as she pushed Yang off of her. She could do this. She could get her team to trust her. She just needed some time to figure out how. She hoped she’d have an idea figured out in the morning, when tensions had cooled and everyone was more refreshed. Ruby finally shoved Yang off of her and sat on the edge of her bed, grabbing her Scroll. Maybe a few games of Dust Crush would cheer her up. As she opened it however, she found a new App on screen, with a stylised SG signature. Thinking it had something to do with being a team leader, she opened it up.

_[Welcome to the Stranger’s Game!_

_Would you like to start the Tutorial?_

_{Yes.} or {Yes.}_

_You don’t get a choice because there’s a lot of important stuff in here. You will get a choice for some stuff, not others. C’est La Vie.]_

‘Oh. So it wasn’t a dream then.’ As she collapsed on her bed in a shock, she couldn’t help but giggle in excitement at what this could mean, opening the app as it initialised.

It was a simple layout, with only five boxes to open, labelled "Player Stats", "Saved Data", "Inventory", "Settings", and "Load Hub". In the top corner of the screen was a small crescent moon button that seemed interesting, leading her to press it. A small bar of text appeared. 

_[System initialising: Please wait as we load the Interface. Now transporting consciousness to the Realm of Creation for optimised initialisation.]_

She barely had a moment to process this before placing her Scroll next to her as a wave of drowsiness hit her like a truck and she felt herself falling asleep, eyes closing and vision darkening as she vaguely heard Weiss calling her lazy while Yang defended her as just tired. 

This momentary darkness only lasted for a few seconds until she awoke in the same garden place as yesterday, feeling like she'd just had a better night's sleep than in years.

As Ruby got up to her feet and stretched, she heard that same suited guy from yesterday talking as well.

"- now we just wait for one more person before I give you a quick rundown on things." As she turned, she saw that she wasn't the only one there, with the other two people from the day before too, that guy with the cool red sword and the girl with that rapier. She wondered if the reason for the red was the because it was forged with Fire Dust to improve the weapon, which was rare because it would take a Master Smith to be able to forge something like that and he would hopefully let her know where to find the guy so that she could give Crescent Rose a red blade because she was so stupid to miss something so obvious-

**"Calm down child!"** The Stranger yelled out, covering the place where his ears would be, **"I can barely hear myself think with you practically broadcasting that on your maximum volume."** Ruby sheepishly forced herself to calm down, hoping to ask questions at a better time.

Meanwhile, the girl with the cool skin tattoos had suddenly realised she needed answers from their host. "Wait, you can read our minds? How are you doing that?" She thought for a moment before clenching a fist and pointing at him indignantly, "you, you better not be reading our thoughts to reveal our plans!"

Stranger simply waved her off with a chuckle. **"No my dear, I cannot read minds. I can read surface thoughts and emotions. The only problem was that she was broadcasting her thoughts quite loudly. If someone was blasting a speaker next to you, you'd be unable to help yourself listening too."** Seemingly satisfied, she backed down, but this did nothing to alleviate the tension growing in the air.

"So… I'm Ruby Rose of Beacon Academy. Who are you guys? Do you have cool weapons too? What was with those cool masks yesterday? Are you guys Huntsman in training? You don't look like Huntsman in training, are you professional Huntsman?"

Adam gave his standard response and coolly glared behind his mask, while Ilia turned somewhat yellow in embarrassment from the barrage. Ruby was not dissuaded by the silence, but apparently emboldened by it. She kept asking more and more questions, even going so far as to ask where she could get an awesome mask like theirs, and other awkward questions with uncomfortable answers. 

"Adam..." Adam was hoping that the one word answer would be enough to get her to stop. He would be disappointed as it just encouraged her to start asking about his weapon and where she could get a red blade like his.

Eventually Ilia stepped in and held Lightning Lash in front of her, "Here! Here's my weapon! If I let you look at it, will you shut up!" Her rude comments did nothing to dissuade the young Huntress, as she sped over to Ilia and began to examine the weapon, snatching it away to get a better view. 

Ilia could feel Adam's disapproving look as she walked over to a nearby tree stump to sit, but she couldn't stand hearing the girl's hyperactive, supersonic barrage of questions any longer. What kind of kid would ask about whether the rifle in Blush was chambered in .308 or .50? What difference did it make to her? At least she was quiet for a few minutes, playing around with Lightning Lash and seeing how it worked in all three forms. Leaving Ilia to sit in peace.

What she wasn't expecting was Ruby to sit in front of her, holding out Lightning Lash, smiling like she just got told Christmas was early this year. "Well? What is it?" This was the wrong question to ask as Ruby just let out a high pitched squeal and began to gush over her weapon.

"I've never seen a three state weapon like this before! Especially one that's so well made. How does the chamber function in regards to the whip and blade modes? Does it store Dust to use in both? Only one? Can it use any Dust or is it just one? Which Dust can it use? Don't answer, I checked, it's just Lightning. Why just Lightning? Is it for a theme? Is it for one of the other modes? Is it personal preference? Does it help augment the cutting power of the blade? What materials were used? This is clearly very tough, but also flexible. Where did you make it? Do they do commissions? Do they give advice?"

Ilia did the only rational thing one can do when confronted with such an outflow of questions. She calmly grabbed her weapon, walked over to Adam, and hid behind him as a barrier between her and Ruby.

"Wha- hey come back! I have more questions." Ilia however was having none of it, and was very thankful that Adam stood between them. "Hey, is that a Chokuto?" Ilia turned a pale grey, realising she had stopped nothing with her escape.

"Yes." Adam didn't notice the breakdown behind him. Just like how he didn't notice Ilia using him as a shield to deal with the excitable brat before him. He probably had a good seven years on her, enough that he could prepare himself for her runaway mouth, where Ilia would suffer the full brunt even if she hid.

"Is it-"

"I have a better question. What is your weapon?" Ilia became an alabaster white, Adam almost smirked at the awestruck look in Ruby's eyes as she drew a box that was hooked onto her belt under her cloak and unfurled it to reveal: 

"Behold! Crescent Rose!" Ruby flourished her Scythe and cut down one of the trees next to them, swinging the scythe to rest in the stump it had stabbed into. "She's a high calibre sniper-scythe, ready to kill any Grimm she meets. Isn't she the best?" Adam merely curled the corner of his lips into a smirk, preparing to rile up his subordinate. 

"What rounds is it chambered in? Why that one? Does it have the capacity to use Dust? What Dust can it use? Why that Dust in particular? Does it jam often? What about the weapon is a strength compared to a conventional weapon? What is a weakness compared to a conventional weapon? How do you handle recoil? Why is it named Crescent Rose? Does the blade being only on the inside hinder your combat ability? Why a sniper-scythe? What materials were used? Who made it?" 

While Ruby prepared to unleash a practical typhoon of answers, he was smiling as Ilia was crying lightly and hitting him in the back with her feeble punches. They would need to train her hand to hand now that he knew it was a weak point. Before she could begin ranting, they were interrupted by confused screaming as Jaune ran into the small clearing, wildly swinging his weapons.

**"Good, you are finally all here."** And with the fourth and final member of their team, the Stranger appeared. **"Now we can get on with things."**

"Why are we here? I thought we were done with you after you gave us this power. Power that hasn't even manifested yet." 

**"But don't you see Mr. Taurus, it has manifested. Otherwise, how are you here?"** Not even Adam had a response to that, so he simply elected to wait until he was done. **"Yes, you are all here because of a nifty little app on your Scrolls. It shall be a temporary interface while the system loads, through any updates I have, and if you need to use the system without tapping awkwardly at the air. For the system proper at any time, simply say or think 'Status'."** As four people said the magic word, four blue screens appeared in the air in front of their faces.

"So… how does this work?" Jaune was ever the country bumpkin and had as much knowledge of games as he did Huntsman.

**"Wait, do you actually need me to explain this stuff?"** He looked at the blank faces of three of them, before turning away as he began massaging his temples. **"You just had to choose the fun ones didn't you. Not the ones who didn't need exposition. No, you just said those would be too boring, and went with the fun ones."** After a heavy sigh to choke back a scream of frustration, he took a deep breath and prepared his explanation. 

**"Here are your Stats. S is Strength, P is Perception, E is Endurance, C is Charisma, I is Intelligence, A is Agility, and L is Luck. You want more detail, there is a song I can send you later. These govern how good you are at stuff, which is further divided into Substats that let you cultivate more specific stuff like Inventory space, aiming, or stuff like that."** He waved a little as the menus followed his command to highlight everything as he was saying it, further opening into a new menu when he brought up Substats.

"What's this bar in the top corner of the screen?" Ilia was doing her intelligence training proud and fishing for as much information as she could.

**"That's some stuff about XP that you don't need to worry about because that'll be background info you don't need. I'll handle that and it won't come up, since that's pretty boring."** He cracked his neck and opened the tab labelled "Abilities".

**"This however will be of great importance. Abilities are things that will either help or hinder you in your journey, divided into stuff that makes you stronger generally, and stuff that makes you stronger by hitting with more stuff. There's Perks: things you gain by upgrades or Achievements that make you stronger. Titles: A thing based on your reputation according to others and yourself that gives some benefits and disadvantages. And no, you can't change them consciously. There's Skills: they'll be things you earn along the way through fighting and training, which gives you more stuff to hit with."** If he had a face Stranger would be smiling now.

**"Now it is time for the main event: Magic."** He watched as they all showed varying levels of disbelief. From Jaune and Ruby's hopeful disbelief, wishing it were true but not believing it, to Ilia and her justifiable skepticism, to Adam openly scoffing at what he perceived as foolishness. **"I see you need a demonstration. Well, I am glad I waited until after Initiation, since you've gotten your hands some very nice Dark Magic Miss Rose."**

Stranger snapped his fingers and Ruby fell to the floor, unable to stop herself from screaming as Jaune rushed over to her where she lay curled up, desperately trying to help her. Adam however had drawn his sword on instinct and was about to strike at Stranger before their host raised his hands in surrender and Adam realised he was about to fight for the sake of a human, sheathing the blade.

A cold fire burned in her veins, robbing her of warmth and life. She could feel as her body lost it's lively parlour, and the red blood in her veins became tainted with something foreign and unnatural. She felt her shoulder blades screaming in pain as they warped, twisted and snapped beneath the skin, stretching the flesh of her back upwards and outwards until it suddenly stopped, and Ruby felt at peace. Something about this made her feel more calm and at ease than anything else in her life. Casting off her treasured cloak, she saw why.

Stretching out of her back was a pair of small black wings, with a coarse and rough plumage from razor sharp feathers. Ruby tried to remember why they looked familiar until she looked closely at the red barbs and rachis and recognised it. After all, she had killed the previous owner of these wings earlier that day. A screen popped up before her to elaborate: 

_Quoth the Raven, Nevermore:_

_Lv1: 50 AP/min_

_Man has always dreamed of flight, from ancient tales to legends of Angels. But for you, the dream is a reality, as you soar through the air as a conqueror of the skies._

**"This is the power of Dark Magic. The ability to take the power of every Grimm you slay and make it your own. I'd recommend leaving it be for a while until you've strengthened your Willpower enough."** He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, as the wings dispersed like dust in the wind, and Ruby's complexion became more natural. **"Although, this doesn't work retroactively I'm afraid. Nor will light magic."** This got Ruby's attention. 

"Light magic? How is that different to Dark magic? Do I choose one or the other? Do I get both? How do I get Light magic?" Stranger chuckled as he fanned himself with the brim of his hat to stave off the embarrassment he felt.

**"Patience my child, patience. It is a virtue for good reason. Regardless, no. You are able to use both interchangeably and even simultaneously. But you gain them separately. After all, you gain Light Magic from Semblances that you have either fought or been taught."** Behind her, Adam snapped to attention while Ilia stared at him in realisation, as they both thought back to earlier that day…

xXx

_Ilia was just getting off of her morning shift of the guard rota, and Gods was she bored. She wasn't tired like she usually was, just very restless. Her body seemed to be filled with this electrifying energy that refused to let her stay still for even a moment. She wanted to go out and do something. She_ needed _to go out and do anything. Which is why she was so glad to see Adam demonstrating CQC to the greenies, right fist already in the air in front of him and legs shoulder width apart._

_"And after the first strike, you need to be swift with a follow up strike," Adam stepped forward with a flat palm, left arm moving slowly so the greens could analyse the movement of the strike and study it properly, "and finishing with what could be a decisive blow." And so he ended the short Kata with a small half step back and a knife hand chop aimed for the throat of whatever attacker tried to retaliate. "Now, I want you all to find partners and get to practicing this set. When I feel you're done, we can move onto the next one. And if you need any guidance, simply call for me or one of the other trainers here."_

_As the new guys began to find sparring partners to work with, Adam looked in her direction and smiled._

_"Hold on everyone, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Waving for her to come over, he began to introduce her as she walked. "This is Ilia Amitola. A friend of mine from Menagerie who some of you may be familiar with. Before you do any Kata today, she'll be helping me do a practical demonstration of the applications of CQC."_

_"I will?" This stunned Ilia for a moment before she found her footing again. "I mean, yeah. Of course I will. What exactly did you have in mind sir? More kata? Drills? A demonstration of forms?" Adam's lips twitched upward for a moment as he gestured for the greenies to back away and give them space, loosening his coat a bit further for more freedom of movement._

_"I was thinking through sparring." Ilia barely had a moment to think before Adam rushed at her with a punch to the face. She got her hands up to block in time, but was unprepared for the palm strike to her stomach that followed up._

_As she was pushed back dazed, she instinctively leapt at him with a punch, which he responded to by stepping back and striking forward with a chop that hit her in the throat and left her breathless and choking. As she knelt down and tried to recover her breath, Adam turned to the crowd of stunned students._

_"These moves can save your life if you are smart with them. If you are strong, train well, and achieve the best of yourself that you can, then you will succeed and push this cause further to success. Now, find a partner and try to see if you can do what I did. See if you can master this by the end of today, and we'll move onto another kata tomorrow." As they once more joined in pairs and began to flail madly in their attempts to hit each other and not get hit, Adam knelt next to Ilia and helped her up, grabbing a water bottle one of the trainees had abandoned._

_"Are you feeling alright Ilia? Do you need to go to the infirmary or are you well?" She shook off the momentary dizziness from standing up too quickly and took a few deep breaths before she responded._

_"I'm fine, don't worry about me. I just want to know what the hell that was about?" His smirk simply grew as he looked at the fumbling greens._

_"Training." Ilia turned a deep red in frustration at that._

_"What the hell kind of training did you want to give them that you needed to humiliate me like that!" Adam just remained stoic and cool, with a calm response ready._

_"I was referring to your training." That drained the anger out of her, leaving her confused, as he elaborated. "I needed to know your current hand to hand skills before I can begin training you in it. Now that I do, we can continue on your training from here. You aren't on the morning guard rota from now on. Instead, you come here and I'll be training you up to fill in these gaps in your skill." Ilia stayed still with shock as she tried to process what she was hearing, even as Adam walked away, calling briefly over his shoulder as he left._

_"I see great potential in you Ilia. I hope to cultivate it where your previous teacher was content to let it wither."_

xXx

**"Yes Mr. Taurus. Your little training session with young Miss Ilia did in fact serve a purpose. As you shall see."** Stranger clapped his hands and suddenly Adam Taurus vanished from sight for several seconds, before reappearing with a brand new screen open.

_Something out there waiting, unseen._

_Lv1: 80 AP/min_

_The power to go unseen is a powerful one indeed. You may cloak yourself to hide your physical presence from sight, but no other form of your presence._

**"The more you fight, the more spells you may have. You can also get spells from Magic Tomes, but those are few and far between in this world. Unless you want to use some of the more…** _ **odd**_ **methods available to you."** He paused for a moment before drawing a pair of video game cases from his suit, throwing them at the last two members of the group. Upon bouncing off Jaune's face and being caught by Ilia, the cases glowed slightly before two more screens appeared before them.

_My Sword is a Tool For Justice:_

_Lv1: 45 AP/min_

_You can imbue your blade with the power to vibrate at high frequencies to cut things apart on a molecular level before the edge even touches them. More levels, more cutting. Also improves depending on the weapon you imbue._

"Wow, this is... incredible." Jaune was in awe at the power he had gained, finally seeing the potential power he could wield as a Huntsman. 

_Just an ordinary cardboard box:_

_Lv2: 35 AP/min_

_When you disguise yourself and remain motionless, you can make your presence completely invisible to all. Just know that even the slightest movement will spoke them and could get you shot. So… be careful._

"What kind of spell is this?" Ilia was less than impressed. Sure, this would be helpful for stealth missions. But was it too much to ask for a skill for fighting?

**"You can get more abilities through certain interactive stuff. Some books, games, comics, movies, stuff like that. You get one thing from each, and it will be unique for each of you. I would recommend you all grab those while you can. I am not often the kind to give out freebies."** The games regained their glow and Jaune and Ilia rushed for the game they hadn't gotten, to mixed results, with Adam and Ruby following close behind.

_Old Soldier's Grit:_

_Lv1_

_Your body may not be much, but you have willpower in spades. Whenever your pushed to the physical limit and cannot go on, use your very willpower to carry on until the job is done… just keep in mind that this_ will _be very painful when you're done, and I give no health insurance._

"How does this even work? What is this willpower stuff?"

_Refuge in Audacity:_

_Lv1_

_Are you dressed as a Mariachi in a place where that makes no sense with a completely see through disguise? Doesn't matter. So long as you act like you belong, no one will question your presence._

"... I have nothing but hate for you."

Ruby meanwhile was practically jumping for joy at her two new tools to train with. They would let her add in so many new toys for her baby to use.

_Desperado Delight:_

_Lv1_

_You ever wanted to be a Cyborg? Or have a robot army? A robot dog with a chainsaw tail? Or at least some power armour? Well, now you can build those. With the right materials, you'll be cutting buildings in half in no time. (Batteries and supplies not included)._

_A Weapon to Surpass…:_

_Lv1_

_You ever just want a giant Mech Robot with the ability to launch nuclear missiles? Don't lie to me and say "no". Because now you can. Just don't go too crazy. Be crazy in moderation. Insane responsibly._

Adam however kept up a mask of stoic indifference, to mask the thrill of excitement he felt as he examined the ways he could further the cause with these:

_Ripper's Wrath:_

_Lv1: 200AP/Min_

_Your Wrath is unending, and shall adorn your physical form like a burning cloak. Your physical abilities will multiply greatly, time will slow to a crawl for all but you, as you inflict your insatiable bloodlust upon this world._

_Didn't Get all the Recessive Genes:_

_Lv1_

_Your body reaches the maximum potential afforded by your base physiology. You will be stronger, faster, and in all ways better than any other mortal man on your level. But do not be arrogant and allow yourself to plateau, or taste the bitter humiliation of defeat._

"This is suitable. I will put these to great usage."

**"Don't you just love how generous and benevolent I am?"** Jaune awkwardly put his hand up as if he was trying to get the attention of a teacher. **"Yes Mr. Arc, what is it you want to know?"**

"Uh… what's this AP thing and that Willpower stuff? I don't think you mentioned that." Ilia took her chance to barge in and demand an answer.

"And why am I only getting stealth abilities and no offense stuff?" Stranger blinked, which made for a very odd sight, considering he still didn’t possess a conventional head, straightened his tie, and readied to answer. 

**"Ah, I see you have questions that are quite dire. AP is your Aura, and will be your casting stat. It is governed by the one stat that defines you best, and hasn't made an appearance until now because the system is still initialising. Willpower is a Substat of the Endurance Stat, and you can look into that later."**

**"As for you Miss Amitola, it is quite simple. These are predominantly stealth games. You get what fits you best from these games, and you are an assassin and will get stealth. You will get more attack options if you go out and find stuff, so keep an eye out."**

**"Regardless, there's still two more things left for us to discuss before you may go for the night,"** he tapped on the previously greyed out tab labelled "Skins", and began his explanation as a full body image of them along with an image of their weapon appeared. **"This is going to be very fun indeed. Skins are a way to change your entire look for whatever reason you want. You still will be recognised as you, but you'll get new abilities based on what Skin you're wearing. I want you all to swipe over to the Alt Skin that is on the right of this Default already selected."**

As they did so, there was a brief flash of light as their entire outfits and looks changed in an instant. Their clothes had been completely colour swapped, with red becoming blue, black becoming white and vice versa, yellow becoming green, and dark greys becoming much lighter. 

"Why is there so much blue!" Adam was… less than happy about the change. It might be because his entire colour scheme had been flipped to make him white and blue, with black accents and mask. It also probably had something to do with the fact that his hair had also been recoloured a matching navy.

"Why do I look like an Edgelord? Ruby, do I look like an Edgelord?" Jaune looked like a stereotypical black knight from an anime, with midnight black armour accented with an acid green, his hair an oily black and his sword sheathed in a similarly coloured sheath.

"Not now Jaune, I'm a bit busy right now!" Ruby was panicking, close to a full on meltdown as she examined her now sky blue cloak, scythe, clothes, and oddly enough hair tips. She hated this, hated that she looked so unfamiliar, hated that she was even more of a stranger now.

"... I hate everything about this." Ilia was in a significantly lighter outfit, that had unfortunately for her included the addition of a combat skirt, and several flowers woven into her newly done braid, along with the more wand like shape of her weapon, making her look like a rip off of a Magical Girl. 

**"The base Alt doesn't give any differences except for me finding them funnier, and that your weapons are now exhibiting a bunch of new fun tricks that you can explore in your own time. I will say this, the name changes aren't anything to worry about. The different name is just to differentiate between Skins. It is still ultimately the same weapon, no matter how much it changes."**

The topic of weapons led to a mad scramble by everyone to see what this had done to their equipment. Adam drew a navy blue Chokuto that was surrounded by a thin icy mist, cool to the touch. Ruby drew a light blue Scythe with a blade made entirely out of ice. Jaune revealed a sword similar to his own, but coated with a green fluid that dripped off of his blade and poisoned the grass below. Ilia however drew a black gun shaped like a wand, that revealed a blade that was composed of segmented glass and metal blades, with the glass containing a similar liquid to Jaune's no doubt.

**"These are going to be very useful in time, especially when you start getting the skins with effects. But I recommend training with the system as is, before shaking things up with these new weapons and the unique fighting styles they'll require."** Once again, he clapped his hands together, preparing to send them on their way, **"I do believe that is everything. I'll just be sending you on your way-"**

"Wait!" Everyone turned to Jaune as he frantically waved his arms to get attention, "Can you at least tell us what this place is first? And why we came here when we fell asleep?" Stranger simply paused for a moment before slapping a palm to his face, slowly dragging it down as he bitterly muttered about "being shown up by the blonde jackass".

**"Should've known I would forget something. This is pretty simple though. This is the Realm of Creation. Former home of the God of Light before he fucked off and smashed your moon."**

"-He what!?" Stranger carried on as if he hadn't been interrupted by their cries of shock.

**"I'm living here now because I like it, and you're all here because you need it."**

"And why are we here then? This is a really nice place, so I don't mind, but I just don't get why we're here." Ah Ruby, never change.

**"You're here because I got advice from a friend of mine who has experience with empowering people like this, and he said that I should tie your dreams to a central Hub, where you may rest, train, socialise with each other, and recuperate. I will also be running a shop with all of my nice stuff, and I'll be willing to buy and sell just about anything for anything. And yes, you'll be coming here every night for as long as you're a Gamer. Use this time wisely, since time here passes differently, and because any training you do here carries over to the waking world."**

**"And without further ado, time for you lot to wake up. You have things to do, so get them done."** With that, he clapped his hands twice and they all bolted upright in their beds, fully rested and ready for the day ahead…

… Except for the fact that it was 5am, and the day ahead hadn't fully started yet. And there was a bright light shining in their faces.

_[System initialising complete. Diagnostics complete. System fully operational._

_Welcome, Players, to the Stranger’s Game 1.5!_

_Would you like to begin your Daily Quests?_

_{Yes.} or {No.}]_


	3. Chapter 3: Rocky Foundations and a Running Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that things have been fully installed, our heroes are going to be off to a running start as they try to get a handle of their new abilities. Let's see how our Huntsmen In Training react to gaining abilities that some would consider... Unnatural.

**Chapter 3: Rocky Foundations**

**xXx Jaune Arc xXx**

Jaune Arc moved as quietly as he could, through the loud snores of his new teammate Nora, to enter the privacy of the bathroom. First priority was making sure that he was back to his loveable self, and not looking like he came from a crappy anime. Seeing his normal hair was not something he expected to find so relieving, but he hadn't expected any of the craziness of the last two days.

He would still think it was a dream honestly. Dream lands, magical powers, Gods and immortal witches. Sounded too crazy for real life, right? It had to be a dream. Except...

_ [Name: Jaune Arc _

_ Level: 8 _

_ Title: The Worthless Forgery _

_ Race: Human _

_ HP: 128/128 _

_ AP: 1215/1215 _

_ S: 8 _

_ P: 7 _

_ E: 6 _

_ C: 15 _

_ I: 10 _

_ A: 6 _

_ L: 15] _

Yeah. That. It was pretty hard to say something wasn't real when there's a magic screen following you around. He could even see it's reflection in the mirror. Something told him no one else would see anything though.

There was also a new screen too. Which seemed to be pretty important. 

_ [You have one Daily Quest: _

_ Baby steps Saitama:  _

  * _Do ten push ups_


  * Do ten sit ups


  * Do ten crunches


  * Run one km


  * Practise sword techniques


  * Test sword Abilities]



Well, he came here to be a Huntsman. Time to get on with it. Stepping out of the room, he began to carefully walk to his duffel bag that had his stuff. Grabbing some gym clothes he quickly readied himself and hoped he didn't wake his teammates. Grabbing Crocea Mors from where he rested it, leaning on the side of his bed, he quickly snuck out of the room to avoid waking anyone else up.

He stretched a little in the hallway, enjoying the peace and quiet that felt so different to home. Back there, there was always some kind of noise, from fitful snoring to steps on creaky floorboards to just about anything in between. He never knew how mom and dad raised eight semi insomniacs without going insane.

Here though, there was no sound. Just a blanket of silence that muffled things around him, making it more freeing to think in. Here, he could just be himself. Not the fake Huntsman, not the guy unfit to be a leader, or the ungrateful child of two parents who deserved better. He could just be Jaune Arc. A guy with a love of unhealthy cereals and a newly found love of video games. 

Speaking of which, it was time to get moving. He started at a light joggers pace, moving slowly and steadily through the halls of the dorms until he got outside. When he finally stepped out, he took a moment to appreciate the scenery. The dark hues of the night as the sun just barely began to crest over the horizon, it's rays only lightly illuminating the fresh morning dew that coated the grassy fields of the campus. Taking a deep breath in, he stretched his arms one last time and ran. 

He began passing through Beacon. Trying to make as complete a loop of the campus as he could until he hit the goal. He ran through the place, running hard through the grounds. Through gardens and empty halls, seeing how different this place felt when no one was around. It was also weird running past that crater Ruby was in and seeing it intact again. Shame, he was really going to enjoy teasing her about it.

Was that really only two days ago? So much had happened it felt like it had been weeks ago. How the hell did any of this happen to him? He was just a dumb blonde farm boy with delusions of grandeur because he had an important family. How was he supposed to handle magic soul powers, the legacy of his sword, and the fact that he was completely unprepared to handle any of this stuff?

He came to a stop at the sound of a short ping, which showed that he had completed the run. He looked at his surroundings and saw that he was at the statue of Beacon. No one could quite agree what the statue was meant to represent, but none could deny that it was fitting for this Academy. 

It depicted two figures, a man and a woman, stood on a rocky outcrop as a Beowulf hid in fear beneath them. They were clad in heavy plate armour that would protect them well, with the woman in a heavy cloak that lead into a hood that hid much of her features except for a blank and lifeless face, resting the head of a battleaxe on the stone as she leaned on it, for support or for rest, it could not be said. The man was similarly hooded, but instead wore a thick tunic that rested heavy around his waist. He held a sword high in triumph, a celebration of victory or a declaration of war, the message long since lost to time.

Jaune stood there and stared at the sword of the stone. He looked at it's heavy and blunt blade, the thick crossguard etched with patterns that would never fade, and at the sword that had changed the world when held in the right hands. He drew Crocea Mors and looked at the sword of his ancestor, and the legacy that had been etched into both stone and steel. 

"How could I ever hope to live up to what you did?" His Great Grandfather had changed the world with nothing more than just a sword and his desire to uphold a cause he believed in. But Jaune didn't even know how true that was. Did he have Aura too? A super powerful Semblance? Another weapon more suited to Grimm hunting than a single very tough sword?

"Well Mr. Arc, I believe the first step is training." Jaune turned around and held Crocea Mors out to keep away whoever had snuck up on him, stopping himself before he accidentally cut down Headmaster Ozpin.

"Oh my God! I am so, so sorry sir! I-I'll pay more attention next time!" The old man merely chuckled as he stepped forward to stand next to the young man, looking deeply at the state's visage.

"You know, I always found it interesting, this statue. They put such effort into making that blade so detailed, and yet the face just seems completely wrong. Somewhat blank, and they certainly got more than a few of the details wrong. Even if the identity of whoever it was is long gone, they put such little effort into remembering it while they were here. Don't you find that odd too, Mr. Arc?" Jaune took a moment to think as he sheathed his sword, scratching at the back of his neck awkwardly as he tried to think of how to respond.

"Uh, I guess not sir." Ozpin blinked in surprise and pushed up his sunglasses as he took in the odd response. 

"Well Mr. Arc? You've given me an odd answer, and I'm waiting to hear your reasons. Or were you just making up what you thought I wanted to hear so that you could stay here, talking with me?" Jaune seemed to freeze in shock for a moment, seizing up entirely and becoming as still as the statue. It was a long moment, but he soon relaxed when he realised what Ozpin meant.

"I dunno, I guess it's because the sword meant more than his face? Cause the sword represents his actions and deeds. All the legendary stuff he did while he was alive. And it matters more that someone did those things than who did them, I guess." Jaune stared at the inscrutable old man, his thoughts an enigma to the young blond.

"A fine answer indeed Mr. Arc. One worthy of a student of our fine academy." Jaune let out a sigh of relief as Ozpin began to leave, before he turned back one more time to offer some parting advice. "And just so you know Mr. Arc, these legends always needed a lot of  _ training _ before they truly became Legendary. That sword of yours is particularly good with heavy strikes with long arcs, and precise slashes over wild swings like those from your initiation. And when you thrust with it, make sure to kick off with your back foot at the end, so that it really drives the blade in." And with that, he calmly left, the tapping of his cane against the stone the only indication that he was ever there.

Jaune thought about what he said. Which was weird, because there was no way a guy like Ozpin knew much, if anything, about the Sword of the Arc family. Hell, not many of the family knew much about it. They didn't know a thing beyond the blade having been a historical artefact his Great Grandfather once wielded during the Great War, and it had been in their family far longer than that.

And yet, as he took a ready stance that seemed both familiar and foreign, he began to swing his sword with precision. He swung once, before stepping into an upward slash, ending with a thrust.

"Huh, I guess he isn't Headmaster for nothing." Even if somethin about Ozpin set him off, he would appreciate this advice. He did want to try one thing though. "What was that spell? Oh yeah,  _ my sword is a tool of Justice! _ "

Suddenly his sword sparked with electricity and blurred slightly. It wasn't moving, but it was oscillating in place at such a high speed that it had begun to ionise the air around it, a thin white glow surrounding it as Jaune gave it several test swings. 

"Oh my God… this is AWESOME!" And with the excitement of a child, he kept swinging his sword. Left and right, over and under. He swung the blade around, precise slashes giving way slowly to gleefully amused wild swings, enjoying the way it hummed as it moved through the air. The joy he felt with this blade was something he could not believe was possible until now.

At least until he got too close to a tree, and swung into it, cutting cleanly through the tree, and barely getting leaping out of the way in time to avoid getting crushed, the ancient Oak tree falling to the earth with a mighty crash that surely would have woken up someone. Or a lot of someones, since he looked up at the buildings now being filled with lights as the occupants awoke to try and learn answers to what happened. 

_ [You have two Daily Quests: _

_ Baby steps Saitama:  _

  * _Do ten push ups_


  * Do ten sit ups


  * Do ten crunches



_ Fuck off Spiderman:  _

  * _Escape responsibility for your actions as well as the crime scene_


  * What are you waiting for, you blithering idiot?


  * Fucking run already!]



Well, it clearly wasn't his fault if he took the opportunity to follow the quest and ran like hell. He was just following orders. That would work as an excuse, right?

Who was he kidding. That excuse hadn't worked since the fall of Mantle. He might as well do as they did and run away before he can get caught. Hopefully he could escape, and not have to pay for the tree. Unlike those guys, whose blood he was 90% sure was on this sword at one point.

  
  


**xXx Ruby Rose xXx**

  
  


Ruby was a little nervous. She'd woken up her teammates early, only for Yang to fall back asleep and Weiss to give her a lecture on "the importance of a full night's rest". She had probably lectured Ruby for a half hour-ish. She'd stopped listening after the first few minutes and focused instead on her new quests. 

_ [You have two Daily Quests: _

_ Might Makes Right: _

  * _Kill Edgar_



_ Space to Breathe _

  * _Find a way to make this room less cramped]_



Ruby wasn't sure  _ who _ Edgar was, but she hoped she didn't need to kill him. She didn't know why the game wanted her to kill Edgar, but she was hoping it was speaking metaphorically. What did this Edgar guy do that he needed to die? Maybe it meant kill him with kindness, and that Ruby needed to be very nice to him when they met?

"- And how dare you waste everyone's time with this." It seemed that Weiss had finally run out of steam and cooled her temper, finishing the lecture.

Just in time too. According to the clock, they had fifteen minutes left before their Grimm Studies lecture. A fact she was really eager to point out.

"I was just trying to say that we have class at 9 o'clock, so you might want to be quick. I was just trying to be a good leader and make sure we all had time to get ready." Ruby was wondering how much Fire Dust a person would need to eat to turn as red as Weiss was. "So, maybe focus on getting ready, while I go make sure the Professor doesn't mark us down as late." 

Blake stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed, letting a near zombie like Yang almost sleep walk in. "I'll go with you. We'll say that these two were recovering from initiation and needed some more time to get ready."

Ruby was surprised to learn that Weiss could in fact get more red. It almost looked like she was about to start lecturing her again, before Yang stepped out completely refreshed, and walked over to her closet, taking out a freshly pressed Beacon uniform, courtesy of Ruby and a hot iron. She never got why Yang and dad never wanted her to use one, it was just like running a whet stone over her baby to keep her sharp. And sure, she may have taken one apart to get a look at the heating filament for reasons that got her grounded for a week, but she had put back together better than before, so was there really any harm done?

Weiss just stomped her way into the bathroom to hopefully freshen up a little before classes started, while Ruby and Blake walked out to hopefully give some excuses so that their entire team wasn't late on the first day. Maybe Professor Port would be a nice and understanding teacher? She really hoped his first name wasn't Edgar.

"So, I'm Ruby Rose." Well, she couldn't have had a more awkward greeting if she had tried. She really needed to work on improving that Charisma thing. Maybe it would cure her social anxiety and awkwardness. Blake for her part just smiled a little.

"I know your name, we were introduced yesterday." She really wished she could just hide in her hood right now. It would make escaping so much easier. 

"Well yeah, I know that. It just feels like we never properly introduced ourselves. It doesn't feel like we're teammates, just some strangers who are stuck together." Blake got an odd look in her eye and went quite, an uncomfortable silence stretching out between them. It felt like a long minute as they kept walking quietly, until she finally replied.

"Blake Belladonna, it's a pleasure to meet you Ruby Rose." She was really struggling to not cheer a little at that. Screw charisma and social skills, she could make friends without either of them. Although, because this led to another awkward silence, she would really appreciate both of those, please and thank you?

_ [You had your freebie. You want more stuff? You're going to have to earn it. _ _ ] _

Dang it. She really hoped that would work. At least Blake was saying something.

"So, what do you think about our team?" This gave the energetic reaper a moment of pause. She slowed her pace and came to a pause for a brief moment to think, before carrying on in stride without missing a beat.

"Well, we're a team of some pretty cool people. You seem nice, my sister is amazing and I'm happy she's here with me, and Weiss is…" She didn't have the words to describe Weiss correctly. Maybe she would in two years, but she was here now and didn't really know what she was doing. Blake once again tried to keep things going, dragging the subject on.

"She certainly seems a bit haughty, and somewhat rude. What do you make of her? She's been causing problems for you most of all?" And that was it wasn't it. Weiss had been rude to Ruby, disrespecting her and mocking her for being young and not knowing stuff everyone else had already learned. She was mean, crabby, and seemed determined to undermine Ruby. And yet…

"I dunno. She seems like she'll be a good friend." Of all the responses she could have gotten, this one seemed to throw Blake for a loop.

"Really? Even with her attitude?" Ruby just smiled, optimism shining through.

"Yeah. I think she'll be a good friend soon, no doubt about it." She didn't care if she sounded stupid, or naive, or innocently ignorant, or anything like that. She believed that they would be a great team and great friends soon. 

And unfortunately for her, that was the final blow to the conversation, leaving it completely irrecoverable. Blake simply turned away after that, and ignored her attempts to talk. Eventually they just entered the classroom and found some seats, making sure to save two for Yang and Weiss. Who barged into a near silent class at literally the last minute rushing to the remaining two seats.

They were closely followed by the Professor who calmly walked in after them, not even batting an eye at the antics. He simply went over to his desk and took out some chalk, before writing onto the board "Grimm Studies 101", not caring for the loud noises that left many of them flinching.

"Do you know why you're here, in this classroom today?" He spoke in a gruff voice that held a hint of aristocratic class, as he brushed his hands through an absolutely incredible moustache. Ruby held no shame in thinking that his moustache looked really cool. Would she look as cool in a moustache? Hmm, she might be better with a thin and dastardly moustache, over a really thick Walrus one like him. Why did he grow such a thing? How long did it take him to? And was he still talking? Oh no, he hadn't stopped.

"- thirteen years ago, in the Jungles of Mistral, there I was hunting the largest Alpha Beowulf this side of the Grimmlands. I had been specifically contacted to handle it, as it had taken my third cousin twice removed, or was Olaf my second cousin three times removed? Regardless, I had to take only my father's trusty Combat knife, as the local authorities would not permit me to take my other weapons…" He really hadn't stopped talking. Maybe that's what the moustache was for; hiding some emergency air that he would use to keep talking for longer. Ruby was also pretty sure he hadn't actually taken a moment to breath once during that entire speech.

Whatever. She had better things to do. Like taking out her Scroll and checking her ‘SG’ app and using that to go through her new stuff. Like checking out her stats now that they were properly updated.

_ [Name: Ruby Rose _

_ Level: 16 _

_ Title: Adorable Reaper _

_ Race: Human _

_ HP: 1120/1120 _

_ AP: 468/468 _

_ S: 15  _

_ P: 18 _

_ E: 14 _

_ C: 5 _

_ I: 8 _

_ A: 18 _

_ L: 20] _

  
  


She would have looked at some of the other stuff, until she looked at the person in the row ahead a few seats on her left. For some reason or the other, Jaune was nervously shaking in his seat, probably trying and failing to figure out the meaning of Port's lecture, and was not reacting well to his lack of understanding. Ruby would have sympathised, but she had been taught by Qrow "anything is booze if you're drunk enough" Branwen. She had been desensitised to bad teachers a long time ago.

When he noticed her staring, he seemed to go completely limp in relief. He probably had something really important to talk about. Unfortunately, he was all the way over there, and she hadn't exchanged numbers with him, so it wasn't like she could… message him. She recalled Stranger mentioning something like that right before she woke up to Initiation. Maybe there was something like that in the app?

She scrolled through it, opening up the Saved Data tab. It had a few things, like recordings, cutscenes, notes, and PM records. Clicking on that opened a small list of contacts, four to be exact, and her messaging history with them. Clicking on Jaune's name, she sent a quick message.

_ {hi} _

She watched him take out two pencils and a stick of gum, she hoped he had some left for her to take, before finally getting out his own Scroll. He took a lot longer to get through stuff than she had, probably just not knowing how any of this worked, before eventually finding it and replying. 

_ {hello} _ _. _So polite. He was just the sweetest sometimes. Way better than her old "friends".

_ {dont be so formal Jaune. Your my friend.} _

_ {sorry. Just distracted. Busy few days you know} . Ruby couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. _

_ {Jaune} _

_ {I took the beacon initiation two years early} _

_ {I went through that crazy "dream" to} _

_ {More than anyone else here. I know} _ _. _She watched as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. 

_ {Right, sorry. I deserve that} _

_ {Just a bit confused by it all} _

_ {I mean} _

_ {Why us?} _

_ {This is the academy of the best and brightest huntsman in the kingdom} _

_ {This is where countles legends of the past century were born} _

_ {This year alone is filled with exceptional and incredible individuals} _

_ {So out of all of them} _

_ {Of everyone possible} _

_ {Why us?} _

Ruby would be the first to admit that she hadn't really thought about that. The only thing she had going for her was a lack of knowledge about things that everyone else here probably treated like common knowledge. But honestly she didn't much care about that.

_ {Jaune} _

_ {I don't know why yourw bringing this up} _

_ {But} _

_ {I dont care about that} _

_ {I got this stuff and im going to use it to become the best hunter in the world} _

_ {And nothing is going to stop me} _

She watched as Jaune put the Scroll down and just sat there for a minute, before finally grabbing it and typing something back.

_ {Well} _

_ {There is one thing} _

_ {You can't be the best hunter in the world…} _

_ {If I beat you to it} _

On the one hand, she was happy to get him out of whatever funk he was in. On the other hand, oh he did  _ not  _ just say that to her face.

_ {U did not just say that} _

_ {Oh.} _

_ { B-) } _

_ {But I did} _

_ {I will throw you off that cliff again vomit boy} _

_ {And I will drag you over with me crater face} _

She would have kept messaging him, until Weiss just snatched her Scroll away and locked it, tucking it into her pocket.

"Wha- hey. What do you think you're doing?" She tried to channel as stern a voice as possible, hopefully to express her authority as leader. This only served to infuriate Weiss.

"Are you seriously messaging blondie over there, instead of listening to this important lecture by a veteran Huntsman?" Ruby scoffed.

"Please, like I'm missing any more than the rest of the class." She gestured around them, to the students who were either openly sleeping, or very blatantly messing around. At least she had the decency to hide behind a book and be discreet about it. 

"That's not the point. The point is how can you claim to be a good leader, when this is how you behave. You certainly aren't one for your qualifications for the position. And you definitely aren't a good enough Huntress to make up for the difference either." 

"Are there any among you who believe themselves to be an example of a true Huntsman." 

Ruby's blood boiled and she didn't even hear Port, standing up and glaring at Weiss as she banged her hand against her chest and proclaimed loudly, "I am a Huntress!"

"Splendid my girl! Let's get you ready for your challenge." Ruby blinked for a moment, before processing what he said, and where she was. She walked over to the front of the class, where Port flipped a lever.

"If you truly believe yourself ready, then step forward and face your mighty opponent." A hole opened in the ground, and a cage was raised out of the ground, the creature inside hidden in shadows except for its hate filled red eyes.

" _ Scan _ ." Ruby tried to speak as quietly as possible, using that skill that was in the guide that came with the game. It was a worthwhile read, which kept her busy for the three hours she was chilling before waking everyone up.

_ Lv9 _

_ Edgar _

_ Boarbatusk _

_ "The One in the Hole" _

Oh. So this is who Edgar was. Now she had no issues with killing him. She was a little bit weirded out by her Professor naming Grimm though. That should be grounds to see one of those head doctors. 

"Don't worry Professor, I can handle myself against a single Grimm." Port merely brushed his moustache, opting to simply observe her actions as he unlocked the cage, moving towards his desk.

The cage moved open slightly for a moment as Ruby drew Crescent Rose from within the shadow of her cloak, silently thanking her Inventory. It was pretty simple as a thing. It was a small screen that she could put stuff into and later take it out of, like that handbag Yang gave her when she got into Signal. Maybe she could start using it more, so that she could act like stuff was in the bag. Plus, the manual said stuff about extra capacity with external additions, which sounded like a really complicated way to say more stuff with bags.

As this was going on, the front of the cage burst open as the Boarbatusk charged out, on a bee line for Ruby. She waited until the last moment before dodging to the side, trying to arc her scythe so that it would go between the forelegs and the Grimm would run onto the blade. It was moving too quickly though and knocked Crescent Rose away before she could position it.

It crashed into the wall and was stuck there by its tusks stabbing into the wall. It kept trying to pull itself out, leaving it vulnerable to Ruby as she rushed in with an upwards swing.

The Grimm managed to tear its way free in time to avoid being impaled, but was too slow to escape entirely as Ruby severed its tail. It let out a foul shriek of pain as it managed to knock her away with a tusk. Maybe a bit more speed could help her end this now. What was that spell called again?

" _ Quoth the Raven, Nevermore _ ." She could feel something shift as she muttered those words. It was a lot colder now, and the weight on her back was unfamiliar. But she just needed an excuse to see what she could do with this. It was definitely a lot easier than the first time. She still felt just as cold though.

She glared lazily at the Boarbatusk, watching it roar before preparing it's spin charge. It came rocketing at her, a blur to the audience around them. To Ruby? It was practically moving through molasses as she moved backwards, blinding the Grimm with the faceful of rose petals it had run into, which hid the bullet that shot through and cracked its face plate. 

It was clearly staggered and dazed, moving drunkenly around as it tried to regain equilibrium. It was not to be though as Ruby leapt forth and stuck the blade of her scythe into the top of the underbelly, just past the neck. She was practically grinning as it cried out, her smile widening as she kept dragging the blade downwards, slowly eviscerating it, until it disintegrated around her blade. She was almost poured in disappointment at how little it could take before dying.

"Outstanding! What a stunning move. Using your Semblance as a way to disorient your foes is a clever strategy. But don't be too dependent, as there are certainly Grimm that could have pushed through that attack." Port patted Ruby on the shoulder, thankfully missing her back as she jumped and almost poked her wings out, and directed her back to the seats. "Why, I can recall such an occasion only eight short years ago, when I had just arrived in Vacuo for a sunny holiday that was not to be..." And he was back to rambling. 

As Ruby made her way back to her seat, she saw Weiss had only intensified her glare. She wasn't sure what her problem was, but before she could ask, Weiss just shoved Ruby's Scroll into her chest and turned away. Ruby just moved past her and sat down, hoping they could have a conversation about this later on.

_ [You have two New Quests: _

_ Space to Breathe _

  * _Find a way to make this room less cramped_


  * That was an easy one. You should have figured it out already.



_ Lead by Example, Part 1: _

  * _Weiss is a stubborn girl who's set in her ways._


  * Find out what her problem is and work on it.


  * Help her begin working on your problem with her.]



_ [You have completed one Daily Quest, here is your reward: _

  * _Pig-headedness:_



_ Lv1: 60AP/min _

_ Sometimes you just need to use your head. Reinforces your skull and body, and gives you some sick Tusks. With this power, no walls will ever obstruct you.] _

"Hey Ruby, nice work out there. Glad to see you proving yourself." Ruby turned to Yang, and couldn't help but shrink away a little under the praise. It wasn't like she had done anything special. She just ran a little, shot it, and killed it. 

"It wasn't like that Yang!" She tried to hiss it as quietly as possible, not wanting to draw anymore attention to herself. This just made Yang smile even wider for a moment, before her gaze shifted to concern. 

"But, you were looking pretty pale out there. You sure you're ok?" A brief moment of annoyance and confusion passed for Ruby, before she realised Yang had to be referring to the spell.

"Nah, I'm fine Yang. It was probably just the lighting." She chuckled awkwardly, and since Yang knew her tells, she was clearly unconvinced. Thankfully she was willing to drop the matter.

"If you say so. Just don't strain yourself too bad." She really wished Yang wouldn't baby her so much. She wasn't a kid anymore, she could take care of herself. And after that short fight, and Port's subsequent rambling, she was just tired of being stuck in this room.

Ruby was hoping Combat Class would be less boring.

  
  


**xXx Jaune Arc… again xXx**

  
  


"For our first match, may I please call up Dove Bronzewing and Jaune Arc." Pyrrha patted him on the back as a gesture of support, while Nora suggested what was hopefully a one off request to "break his legs". He looked to Ren and just got a sort of half nod that he thinks was meant to inspire confidence but just left him confused. 

He slowly walked over to the changing rooms, and supposedly to collect his equipment. Not like they knew he still had it on him, just waiting for him to grab it. As he equipped his armour, he felt uncomfortable with how well it felt on him. He could never tighten it to fit him this well, always just a little bit too loose for him to move freely with it always moving against him. Well, he'd gone this long not looking the gift horse in the mouth, he could ignore the game knowing his exact measurements too.

He exited through the door to the arena, holding up a gauntlet clad hand as the bright light shone in his eyes. It took a few moments for him to adjust his eyes, before seeing his opponent walking in with a confident stride, arrogantly waving what looked like a weird gun that he expected to be part chainsaw or something, casting his arms wide as he soaked up the cheers of three other dudes who were part of his team.

Jaune was very uncomfortable with the fact that they were calling for Dove to "crush the weak little worm", and to "hurry up and kill the maggot", or other stuff like that. He was hoping he didn't have to deal with such rude classmates, and that they'd mature sooner or later.

Jaune at least had the cheers of his team and friends. Well, team and Ruby, since that pretty much summed up his support. Hell, other than Ruby and Nora, there wasn't any cheering. Just some polite clapping they probably did because they were expected to, not because they thought he could win.

He walked to the centre of the ring, holding his hand out for Dove. "Hey, may the best man win." Dove just slapped his hand away and took a few steps back.

"Don't worry twig, I intend to." He flipped a switch on the gun and swung out, revealing that while it wasn't a chainsaw, it was in fact a sword gun… Why couldn't he have a sword gun?

It didn't matter. Because he just heard a very familiar ping.

_ [You just got a New Quest: _

_ Clipping Wings, Part 1: _

  * _Show this arrogant little entitled brat just who he's messing with._


  * Oh, and uh, good luck.


  * Not like you need it. You can easily win this if you do it wrong.


  * Don't fail. I will forever mock you if you do.]



A second ping called out as a new notification appeared under the first.

_ [Warning: You are under the effect of a Debuff: _

  * _Inexperience:_



_ For all your power, you can't use it properly, losing excessive amounts of Aura on every blow. You take 3x damage to AP until you have trained skill: [????]] _

Well. That was interesting. And new. This looked nothing like the quests from earlier. Maybe this was one of those story ones that Stranger had mentioned. And he was really, really hoping that the Debuff thing wasn't as bad as it apparently sounded. More importantly though, Miss Goodwitch was talking.

"The rules are simple. You will both fight until one of you has won. Winning occurs when one opponent has been knocked into the red for their Aura, when one of you surrenders, or when one of you is knocked out of the ring. If you keep fighting after you have won, then there will be severe consequences. Am I understood?" Jaune nodded his head frantically as he deployed his shield, while Dove just gave a lazy "yeah". Miss Goodwitch pushed her glasses up a little, and tightened her grip on her crop.

"Very well then. You may begin on my mark. Fight!" 

Dove exploded into action, quickly bringing up his gun and rapidly shooting at Jaune, who hid behind his shield, hoping that he could wear down the knight and just end it like that. Jaune was just trying to withstand the gunfire, hoping not to go down so pathetically in the literal first fight he had, and the first fight of the year. He would never forget this, and nor would anyone else. He could just picture years from now being known as the guy who lost to regular bullets on the first day of class.

No, what little pride he held wouldn't allow that. He thought quickly about the bullets. They had to be coming from the same place, Dove. He threw caution to the wind and just ran straight ahead, catching Dove off guard as he dodged at the last second, unfortunately going to the right, where he was winged by a thrust from Crocea Mors that just barely caught his arm.

But it did enough. First blood in this fight went to Jaune. And judging by the look of shock and utter disgust on Dove's face, he probably didn't like that.

"Nicely done worm. You got a good hit in, before I destroy you. Now, you can at least say you tried." Dove jumped forward at that, getting inside Jaune's guard and smashing his knee into the inexperienced blonde's chin. As Jaune stumbled back, dazed, he could barely bring his shield up as Dove sneered and began to ferociously smash against the ancient metal.

_ [1140/1215] _

"Just go down already!" Each word was punctuated with a swing of the sword, the clashing of steel on steel. Eventually Dove just kicked his shield, causing it to crash into his torso and wind him, as Jaune doubled over from the hit and left his head vulnerable to an overhead swing that floored him.

_ [950/1215] _

Dove was breathing somewhat heavily, the adrenaline and anger leaving him tired. He kicked Jaune over and stepped on his shield, pushing it down into him.

_ [790/1215] _

"Don't forget this maggot. This is your place." He raised his heel, glowing with grey light as he activated his Semblance and made it heavier, slamming it down. "Under. My. Heel!" Over and over again he stamped down, chipping away at Jaune's Aura as he could do nothing to defend himself. Finally, he just rested his foot on the shield and tried to catch his breath, his entire body glowing slightly as he made himself lighter. He could vaguely feel the glares of the maggots friends. Whatever. Why would he care for the thoughts of anyone stupid enough to let this guy be leader?

_ [430/1215] _

He would have probably carried on insulting them, if not for the fact that he heard a button push and suddenly found himself losing his balance and falling onto a sword swing that knocked him back. As he growled in rage, he turned and saw Jaune Arc getting to his feet, unsteady but still standing strong.

"You won't beat me, so long as I have this sword in my hands." Dove blinked for a moment but just laughed at the idiot.

"Oh yeah? What's so special about your fancy butter knife?" Jaune steadied his stance to charge Dove and ran at the smirking fool as he raised his sword into a long point guard, Hallshott sticking out in front of him, pointed diagonally upwards and straight ahead, ready to knock away Crocea Mors with an arrogant ease.

"No, because  _ My Sword is a Tool of Justice _ ." Dove was struggling not to laugh as Jaune said it, before the jackass' sword was covered in lightning and started humming or something with that weird noise it was making. He didn't have time to make a joke as Arc rushed forward screaming like a madman. He twisted his sword to block it.

_ [395/1215] _

Unexpectedly however, when Crocea Mors swung down, Hallshott screamed from the hit, before the longsword swung through the hallstatt, the top half of his sword being sent flying as the ancient blade hit his arm. Dove screamed out in agony as he felt it shredding apart his Aura, forcing its way through just by tearing it apart fast enough that he could feel it depleting rapidly until he was in the yellow and then immediately deep red and-

"That is enough!"

Jaune Arc was sent flying back, dropping his sword out of shock. Crocea Mors kept humming for a few seconds, landing point first on the ground and cutting through until it was stuck about halfway.

_ [340/1215] _

"Winner, Jaune Arc. Mr Arc, while I will congratulate you for this victory, this is simply deplorable behaviour unbecoming of a Huntsman. While you have defeated your opponent, your methods were such that had I not intervened, Mr Bronzewing may have lost his arm. If you ever wish to become a Huntsman worthy of attending this prestigious academy, you will amend this behaviour of yours." Jaune didn't respond. He couldn't. All he could do was stare at his sword in shock, clearly horrified at what it had almost done.

"As for you Mr Bronzewing, you were simply disappointing. You could have ended this engagement minutes ago, if you had in fact taken this combat class seriously. You let your anger and emotions control you and gave into the urge to spew petty insults instead of focusing on the fight. Contact the maintenance department for options regarding your weapon, and inform me when a replacement has been obtained."

Jaune grabbed Crocea Mors by the hilt and effortlessly pulled it out, exiting the arena in a daze, leaving through the changing rooms without even taking off his armour. He just wandered until he reached his dorm room, the screams of Dove as Jaune nearly cut him down mercilessly playing on a loop in his head. He walked over to his bed and just sat on it for who knows how long, until he received a ping from the system.

_ [You have completed one Quest, here is your rewards: _

  * _Pulveris Mors:_



_ Tired of being the odd one out with an antique that just doesn't have the oomph or firepower of modern weapons? This is the Skin for you. With a built in semi automatic revolver in the hilt, you'll be raining bullets and slaying Grimm with ease. Ammo not included. _

  * _Lead Feathered Wings:_



_ Lv1: 80AP/min _

_ Gravity is everywhere and within everything. And you can manipulate your own as you see fit. Increase or decrease your Gravity by varying amounts.] _

_ [You have one new Quest: _

  * _Green No More_



_ Your current level of experience and training - none - is crippling you as a Huntsman. Find someone to train you and end this struggle before it costs someone their life.] _

So he almost crippled his classmate, and he got a copy of the guy's weapon and Semblance as a reward? What a fucking joke. He dismissed the notifications and sent both his armour and weapon to the Inventory, equipping his trusty onesie in the process. He didn't care how stupid he looked, he just needed to have something that made him feel safe and comfortable right now. He just needed something that he knew couldn't hurt someone if he wasn't careful. He just wanted something that didn't make him feel like a bloodthirsty monster in the making.

  
_ 'How can I ever hope to be a hero if I can't do anything but hurt people?' _ Without any answers to satisfy himself with, Jaune simply remained there, hiding under the covers like a child. Not afraid of the world like one, but more afraid of what he would do to the world.


	4. Chapter 4: Viva La Revolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We know how the Beacon team are handling their new found powers, but what about our Revolutionary friends?

**Sorry This one took so long to come out. Exams happened and this was put on the back burner for a while. Special thanks go to ShowBizRex and Coledon, because I cannot thank you enough for helping to make this a reality.**

**Chapter 4: Viva La Revolution**

Adam Taurus opened his eyes for only a moment, before he bolted to his feet. So it hadn't been a dream after all, and that was why he was far less tired than he should be. It might have also had something to do with why he felt, not stronger, but definitely better.

He looked over at his bed, seeing his Scroll still on it. It had likely fallen onto the bed after he activated the ‘Stranger’s Game’ app and been knocked out. It was… alarming, to say the least. He knew the sudden exhaustion that had struck him had not been natural, but he barely had time to note that much before succumbing. It made sense that the… ‘god’ could do such a thing. After all, if it could pull them into that shared realm and apply a completely different set of universal rules to them, it could likely do much more. It was still an uncomfortable thing to have directly applied to him.

Picking up his Scroll, he unlocked it, not even needing to navigate to the app as it popped up immediately. It had a few tabs available, but he was interested in the very first one, ‘Player Stats’. Tapping it brought a similar screen to the one he’d encountered in the god’s realm, this one housed in the Scroll instead of floating about, showing a series of letters and numbers meant to represent all of his relevant attributes.

_ [Name: Adam Taurus _

_ Level: 25 _

_ Title: Monster of the Fang _

_ Race: Faunus _

_ HP: 10,500/10,500 _

_ AP: 9,600/9,600 _

_ S: 50 _

_ P: 30 _

_ E: 50 _

_ C: 15 _

_ I: 35 _

_ A: 40 _

_ L: 2] _

He wasn’t sure if these stats were meant to be higher than the average or not, but he would go under the assumption they were for the moment. He’d have to check what stats some of the greenies had compared to him later. For now, he was more concerned with what exactly these stats  _ meant. _

Strength, for example. He had a value of 50 in it. What did that mean? Both the number and the moniker. What was ‘Strength’? The amount of force his muscles could exert at a maximum? An average? Was it tied into more than just his muscles ability? His overall structure, adding in factors like bone density, or the boost that Aura gave a person’s body?

He wasn’t only curious about how Strength worked. He wanted to know what all of the stats encompassed concerning his abilities. Did Intelligence govern how fast he thought, or his ‘complexity’ of thought? Perhaps it had something to do with neuron density? Or something more esoteric? Damn it, he just wanted a hard description of what these represented, and he didn’t think he could get one until he next visited the Stranger in his Hub.

And that would mean interacting with the two humans as well.

He pondered how he should deal with them even as he slipped the Scroll into his pocket and prepared for the day ahead. They didn’t exactly seem like threats, but… well, Blake had proved that his estimations of people weren’t flawless, to say the least. He was confident that he could deal with them should the need arise though. The blond one was clearly not a trained Hunter, and while the girl was obviously more equipped and capable than her counterpart, her attitude and mannerisms screamed of inexperience. By the gods, her unending  _ questions. _

She was lucky he found it more amusing at the time than annoying. He hadn’t seen Ilia act so pitifully in a long time, and the way she had hidden behind him like they were children all over again had put him in an almost nostalgic mood. Of course, that meant torturing her by playing along with the child’s questions with questions of his own. He found himself smiling slightly at the memory of Ilia’s despaired whining, before he straightened his expression.

He wasn’t an unfeeling machine, but he had to stay in the habit of controlling his visible emotions. He had a division of the Fang to run, and while the more unprepared or lacking members might think him harsh and cruel, he made these choices and behaved like this for a reason. If they feared the ire behind his stoicism, then that just gave them all the more reason to improve. And if he could remain cold and emotionally distant to them, then he could do what a leader must and make the hard calls no one else could.

Back to the thought at hand, he would play along with this game of fate, holding back until the time was right for him to seize victory. While patience had never been a strong suit of his, he saw no better time to work on it. This system and situation was proving that it held a great many opportunities that he could never have imagined before.

The first step though, was getting to work on mastering these abilities. And he knew just the people to help him do it.

Stepping out into the cold morning dawn, he took a brief moment to enjoy his surroundings. The light breeze that shook the leaves of the trees, from the thin saplings only barely thicker than the twigs that littered the ground, all the way up to thick Maple trees that had been around long before his father, or even his father.

He took a deep breath as he began walking around the camp. It was still and quiet at such an early time. Rows and rows of tents that housed veterans who he had fought and bleed with for years, and those he had only met a matter of days ago, their minds blind with ignorance and hearts burning with passion. A quick glance to the medical tent revealed only a few exhausted staff on a quick smoke break, enjoying the little time they could to simply rest before returning inside to tend to the wounded.

Adam didn't notice when he had stopped looking at the infirmary, only that he had loosened his grasp on Wilt. He needed to get his mind focused, get his thoughts sorted out before he couldn't. Needed to calm himself. Thankfully, an opportunity presented itself when he suddenly felt someone tapping him on his shoulder.

Instincts reigned in an instant. Wilt flying through the air, soaring towards the throat of-  _ Ilia! _

Adam pulled back his sword, blade freezing in the air inches away from the Chameleon, who leapt back in surprise, hand going to her belt and grabbing the handle of Lightning Lash. She stopped before she drew it, her fear struck face shifting to anger.

"What the hell, Adam?" She hissed, keeping her tone quiet to not wake up anyone and cause another mess that could lead to her getting punished. Adam simply twisted his wrist, aligning Wilt as he moved Blush so that it was parallel to the ground, slowly sheathing the blade.

"Don't sneak up on me." There weren't many ways to continue the conversation after that, things just entering a lull until Adam sighed. "I am glad to see you up already. I've been hoping to see you as soon as I woke up."

Ilia paused for a moment, considering her response. "Is it about…" 

Adam continued on where she left off in uncertainty. "Your lack of training, yes." Ilia looked shocked for a moment before catching on. "You're lucky that we're both up so early. Come on, draw your weapon and let's begin." She was taken aback by this, expression twisting as shock wrote itself over her face.

"Wait, right now? Fight? But… what?" He sighed, getting too used to people who either wouldn't question or were familiar with his methods.

"We are going to be fighting so I can get an understanding of how good you are in a full fight. No holding back, weapons, Semblances, techniques,  _ abilities _ ." Ilia perked up at that, finally realising exactly what he wanted from her.

"Well, I better warn you then." She drew Lightning Lash, the blade flying out with a flourish of her wrist. "I'm not just your average White Fang agent." They both struggled not to laugh, both at the cheesy line and the in joke they shared, Scanning each other's respective abilities. 

_ [Lv14 _

_ Ilia Amitola _

_ Miss Nobody From Nowhere _

_ HP: 1,746 _

_ AP: 2,254] _

Adam simply placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, waiting for her to make the first move between them. Impatience won out and Ilia ran forwards, charging with a heavy thrust aimed to pierce his sternum.

Adam simply drew Wilt and knocked away Ilia's thrust as he hit her in the forehead with the butt of the sword, before moving the red blade to rest centimetres from her throat as she reeled back in a daze.

_ [2,104/2,254] _

"Dead. Try again." They moved away from each other, the student huffing with barely restrained frustration as she prowled and prepared to strike, while the teacher calmly paced against her, the pair moving counter clockwise to each other. 

The brief moment of peace lasted until Ilia roared and leapt at Adam, jumping through the air as she pulled her arm back to try and stab down at him.

Adam simply moved forward, crouching low as he aimed Blush upwards and shot into Ilia's stomach, sending her flying to the side. As she groaned and tried to get to her feet, she looked up to see down the barrel of his gun. 

_ [1,804/2,254] _

"Dead. You aren't inspiring much confidence Ilia." Her entire body turned a bright red as she glared at him, offended deeply by his dismissal of her. "You aren't playing to your strengths Ilia, and that will get you killed."

She desperately tried to think of a solution. A way to get him to stop looking down on her. To drag him down to her level and prove she deserved to be here. Before it finally hit her, and she was tempted to make that literal as she put together her plan.

"I think you've got the right idea Adam." He seemed almost amused by that, pausing for a moment as he waited for her to continue, watching as she moved behind one of the tents, with Adam following close behind. "I need to play to my strengths. Like hiding… in an  _ ordinary cardboard box _ ." And with those words and a slight cringe at them, Ilia vanished from sight.

Adam turned the corner and was on guard immediately when he couldn't see her. Sword drawn as he focused his senses to find something, anything, that revealed her presence. There was nothing there. No scent, no trail, and no noise. It was as if she ceased to exist.

Adam swung towards a branch that broke next to him, only hitting air as he saw a small squirrel run off in fright at the disturbance. He groaned at that. He just knew it was going to go and cause a giant mess-

His instincts screamed at him as he felt a metal blade wrap around his neck before arcs of yellow electricity carried through it and into him. His hands flew to his throat and pried desperately as he struggled to breathe, while Ilia dug her heels into the dirt as she felt herself being dragged forward by Adam's thrashing. 

_ [9,400/9,600] _

His desperate struggles only got worse, pulling harder and harder on the metal cable as it cut into his Aura. Ilia was dragged closer and closer even as she tried to tighten her grip to slow him long enough to just bleed his Aura dry.

_ [9,200/9,600] _

It was not to be, as Adam had finally pulled her close enough for a hand to reach out and grab her. She tried to pull back, but was too slow as an iron grasp tightened around her arm, twisting it as she cried out from the pain until she dropped her weapon, before Adam spun on a heel and sent her flying back with a roundhouse kick to the face that knocked off her mask. Ilia looked up in fear as Adam calmly picked up the sword he had dropped in the struggle, and was walking towards her now. 

_ [1,500/2,254] _

_ [9,000/9,600] _

They both knew that there was no chance she would be able to fight without a weapon, when she couldn't even fight back with one. They just needed one thing before this was over.

"I- I surrender." And that was the end of the matter, both of them hearing a ping as they checked their own screens.

_ [You have completed one Daily Quest:  _

_ Talented, but unrefined:  _

_ Your old friend is back and she is incredibly inexperienced. You just got a lot of free time to train an apprentice. _

_ Put two and two together, and get a new friend you lonely fucker.] _

  
  


_ [You have two Daily Quests: _

_ Beginnings of a Slaughter:  _

_ You are strong, yes. Stronger than many, certainly. But you can become stronger. _

_ Train this new power, and become strong enough to lead your people to glory. _

_ Father to his men: _

_ You have a lot of recruits. They're passionate as the best of you, but without the skills to match. _

_ Train them. Make them stronger. Even a little bit should be enough to ease the burden. _

_ Maybe they have something to teach even you, if you'll listen.] _

Now that they had a chance to rest after their little session, Adam looked around and saw they had gotten a bit of a crowd. Maybe he had been a bit too loud and ended up disturbing their rest before they were needed for their work. There was also a lot of money that was in the hands of some very smug veterans that wasn't in the hands of some very irritated recruits. He would need to talk to them about fleecing the new guys still being a type of hazing.

Ilia came over and smiled at him, awkwardly trying to shoulder bump him in a show of affection. It backfired when she just bounced off and fell to the dirt. He couldn't stop the slight smile at that, offering his hand and helping her up.

"So, how do you feel now that we've spared? I hope this has helped you pick up on some areas for improvement." Ilia nodded her head excitedly, still running on adrenaline, feeling quite restless as she was starting to come down from the rush of the fight.

"Yeah. I never realised how much I could just hide in a fight. And especially not in a fight against someone like you." Adam smiled at that. It was always a great feeling when you helped someone tap into their natural talents, and guided them to better use them.

He turned to their crowd, who seemed to straighten up under his gaze, "And the same for the rest of you. I want everyone here to go and think about where they are lacking in combat, and how they can rectify that. Next week, I'll be free to check in with whoever needs some help." He was about to leave before calling out one last time. "And is the Lieutenant here?"

"I am here sir." Out of the crowd, a mountain of a man pushed his way through. Tribal tattoos winding over his left arm, grey steel gauntlets and boots for armour, and a white vest jacket emblazoned with the symbol of the White Fang. Over his face was a mask that hid all except his closely cut black hair.

This was Gray G Haddock, a man who had become so dedicated to his duty to the White Fang, most only knew him as the Lieutenant. 

"Why are you calling for me sir?" Adam nodded for Ilia to move over to the crowd as he led them all to move towards a move open area.

"I've been training Lieutenant. I have developed some new  _ skills _ , so to speak, and I wanted to train them with you." Gray simply reached to the back of his belt where his great sword rested, unleashing the massive blade, the teeth of his Banesaw shining in the morning light.

"On your mark, sir." Adam took a moment to check his stats, and decided to carry on regardless of his depleted Aura, since it wasn't by much in all truth. Using the  _ Scan _ ability, he hoped to get an advantage from whatever he could learn.

_ [Lv28 _

_ Lieutenant Gray G Haddock  _

_ My Only Goal, To Show My Wrath To Demons Among Man] _

Well, that didn't help much. He placed a hand on Wilt, tapping lightly at the trigger for Blush, and nodding at Gray. 

The behemoth of a man roared and revved his chainsword, moving at a shockingly quick speed for such a large man. As he got close enough, he raised the blade over his head and swung downward at Adam's head, leaning into the blow to lend it greater strength as it moved.

Adam pulled the trigger, a flash of red as Wilt swung and knocked aside the sword, a small flash of Aura over the red blade as he absorbed the blow and left the Lieutenant open to a kick that gave some distance between them, Gray only taking a step back and grunting as Adam jumped away.

The Lieutenant roared at Adam, as the bull Faunus landed and began running at him. Their blades collided in the air, sparks flying as steel ground against steel. 

Unfortunately, the Lieutenant gained the upper hand, his veins glowing a bright green light that shone through the gaps in his mask, as he forced through Adam's guard, sending his sword flying away, and knocking Adam to the ground, pinning him beneath the spinning teeth off his Banesaw as they chewed through his Aura.

_ [7,500/9,600] _

A desperate shot from Blush smashed into Gray's mask, causing him to lose his balance and lift his blade. Adam took this chance to smash a hard kick into his chin that sent him flying towards their audience. 

They both took a moment to breath, before cautiously rising to their feet. The Lieutenant was barely sucking in breaths between a low growl.

_ [7,000/9,600] _

"You're faster. Stronger. But restrained. Stop that." Adam was impressed at that. Gray had always had sharp senses, and nothing seemed to slip past him.

"I told you, I've learned a few new tricks." He walked over to his sword, keeping an eye on Gray as he did the same, green glow becoming more intense as he did.

"Stop it!" The Lieutenant hefted his weapon and revved it menacingly, his own roar matching that of the engine. "Stop holding back!"

They all watched as Adam muttered something, only Ilia catching him saying  _ Ripper's Wrath _ , before a red fire seemed to surround Adam. It danced over his body, illuminating his sword, and shining through the gaps in his mask.

_ [6,800/9,600] _

For Adam Taurus, the world had slowed to a crawl. The Lieutenant was frozen as he began his charge, the individual motion of each of the weapon's teeth easily observable. He calmly walked over to his subordinate, sword light in hand and almost begging for a taste of fresh blood. A request he was happy to indulge in. 

He swung once, from hip to shoulder, across Gray's body. But it wasn't enough, the thirst for violence only growing stronger from this moment of indulgence. He swung again, mirroring his strike. And again, across his waist, and then straight down his centre. Then he lost all pretenses of discipline and just began to madly swing over and over and over again, wanting nothing more than to reduce his enemy to a pile of bloody chunks. 

With a scream of animalistic fury, he ended his barrage with a heavy kick that sent the larger man flying backwards, landing in and collapsing an unlucky fellow's tent under his weight.

_ [6,600/9,600] _

As he forced his temper to cool he almost struggled to sheathe his blade, some level of that bloodlust still clouding his judgement. He could handle this. This was not his rage. His rage was focused, with purpose and cause. He was not a mindless beast. 

As he walked over to Gray, holding out an arm to help him up, that was when he remembered their audience. As he pulled Gray to his feet, he looked over at their faces. At the slack jaws and their tense shoulders. At how some of them had grabbed onto crates and tent posts to support their shaking knees. At how the ones without masks flinched away from his gaze.

It didn't hurt, seeing Faunus look at him like that.

Adam heard the Lieutenant saying something about new tricks with his Semblance, but continued to stare at the crowd, who grew noticeably more uneasy as his gaze continued to linger. Finally, he spoke softly and they all straightened in place.

"This is the peak of what you are capable of. Movements faster than the eye, strikes that could bring low the mightiest of Grimm, and attacks that no enemy can stand against. Keep up your training, and soon you'll unlock your Semblances. And when you do, I want you to spend every moment you can training them. If you ever think you've learned everything you can about your Semblance, then I think I just proved that is wrong, and you need to keep training." He took a moment to look at Gray, who nodded his approval when he saw how heavily Adam was leaning on Blush.

"If you have any more questions, then ask the Lieutenant, as he will be available all day for questions, and will be taking over your training today. Ilia, meet me in my tent in three hours." And with his piece said, Adam walked through the crowd, making his way back to his tent.

No one interrupted him on his path, always stepping out of his way respectfully. He could never understand why, but wasn't going to question it.

Pushing his way through the flaps to his tent, he placed Wilt atop his dresser, kneeling before it on the Tatami mats in seiza. 

He was hoping to meditate, to clear his mind and focus his anger once more, but was not going to be able to focus until he answered one question. 

Why was there still a screen open?

Tapping on it revealed something he hadn't been expecting at first.

_ [You have completed two Quests: _

_ Talented, but Unrefined _

_ Beginnings of a Slaughter _

_ Here is your Reward: _

_ Bloodlust _

_ Lv1, 100AP/min, -5% I/min _

_ Sometimes you don't give a shit about anything beyond making damn sure that everything around you dies painfully. Your strength will increase by 10% every minute you use this spell, but you'll keep losing Int until you hit 0, when the spell cancels out.] _

So he could continuously get power from battle, becoming stronger without limit. This would be an unmatched boon to the White Fang. If he and Ilia could get strong enough, then they could force the humans to kneel and give in to their demands. 

And what did it matter if there were two children against them? They would not be any more able to stand against him, regardless of how strong they became.

This sort of gift was proof. It was proof that his cause was righteous, regardless of the means, and would give him the power to cut down any who dared oppose him. His blood boiled with the rage of his people, and Adam would not hesitate to answer it's call.

  
  


**xXx Ilia Amitola, a bit over two hours later xXx**

  
  


As she stood outside Adam's tent, Ilia felt really nervous. Something had been off with Adam all day. He beat down her and the Lieutenant with ease, and then he just went back to his tent for several hours, with no one seeing him since. People had seen some red light shining out of it though, and no one had wanted to go near it for some reason, so there was definitely something going on. 

"Adam, I'm here like you asked. Are you there?" Hearing no response, she steeled her nerves and prepared to walk in, "well, I'm coming in now."

Pushing open the tent, she had to shield her eyes almost immediately from the harsh red light that almost blinded her. As her eyes adjusted, she quickly realised what she was seeing. Adam Taurus was kneeling on the floor, back towards her exposing dozens of scars he had earned through a long service, none of them clean or painless, and burning with that same fire from earlier, only now it seemed to burn under his skin too, as his veins and scars were outlined by this same light. He had both of his hands on his weapon, and was shaking in place as he gripped it tightly.

She thought he was feverish for a moment before she stepped closer and narrowly avoided as Wilt passed through the air, centimetres away from her face.

"Adam!" Her cry of fear seemed to bring him to his senses, the blazing Aura vanishing in an instant. His teeth bared in a snarl for a moment before it returned to his stern and level gaze. Ilia took a moment to calm her heartbeat, before she glared at Adam.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You could have killed me!" Adam didn't react, just turning away and grabbing a shirt as he calmly laid down his sword.

"I was training. I didn't expect you for another half hour, but I appreciate your punctuality." He remained stoic, even as her scales turned a familiar red as his calm demeanour began to frustrate Ilia.

"I didn't want to be late to whatever you wanted us to do. And I was hoping for an explanation and thought it would take a while." He gave a noncommittal hum as he reached for his coat, and turned back to face her.

"Good initiative, it will be a great help to you. Especially now," seeing that she was still waiting, he continued on, "you and I are going on a Dust raid, and I wanted you to rest up first."

Pushing past the shocked Ilia, he began walking to the Bullheads, near the outskirts of the camp at the centre of the clearing. Ilia quickly caught up, filled with more questions than answers. 

"What do you mean Dust Raid? I've never been on one of those before. Is it going to be as dangerous as everyone says they are?" He didn't even look at her, just walking until they reached the ship, where their pilot was busy trying to put out a cigarette when he spotted them.

"Thoth, I hope you're up for the high altitude flight. I can always find a replacement if you are unable to fly." Adam looked the sweaty bird Faunus in the eyes as he moved a hand to rest on Wilt's hilt.

"Sir no sir." Thothe rushed into a hasty salute, poker face worthless when the feathers that adorned his arms stood on end in alarm. They relaxed to rest on his skin again when Adam moved his hand off.

"Good. Then let us be on our way." As they all moved into the small Bullhead, Adam and Ilia strapped themselves down, with the Chameleon girl holding tightly to the harness as she turned green with nerves. She glared at Adam when she caught his smirk.

It wasn't her fault she was bad with air travel, she never got to use it. And being sick in flights was really common! She wasn't a bird Faunus. She wasn't made for the sky.

"It should have been obvious," She looked up from the metal floor panels when Adam started talking, "you almost never get to fly in a Bullhead like this, do you?"

"I never have anywhere to go." Ilia forced out between groans. He only shrugged in response. 

"If you intend to go on missions in the future, then you will need to learn to properly conduct yourself on these. And work on a landing strategy."

"Wait… what do you mean by that?" She felt a chill up her spine as he bared his teeth in a cruel grin.

"Well Ilia, we cannot get close enough to land without getting picked up on Radar. We can however get close enough to drop people through the air. We have about half an hour of flight time before we arrive at the jump point. I suggest you use it wisely."

And so Ilia did just that. She spent ten minutes hyperventilating and almost crying at the horror of what she had to do, and then a further ten minutes trying to talk herself into not just staying on the Bullhead. Thankfully things were much simpler when Adam knocked her over by throwing a bag at her, which was to her immense relief a parachute.

"Get that on now. We're getting close. And I need you to focus on what I'm telling you. Take deep breaths, and then I will tell you about the plan. Can you do that Ilia? In and out, at your own pace." As he guided her back to a chair and helped calm her down, he opened his Scroll and showed her an image of an Airship.

"This is the A.A. Endurance, a former military airship that was converted into a cargo vessel after the roof was blown open by a bombing attack by yours truly. Even after repairs, it was still not fit for service because it could not fix the pressure seals on any of the entrances, making it impossible for them to lock it. Which is how we're getting in." The image zoomed into the roof, highlighting a specific hatch near the front of the ship.

"This is our entry point. It is the closest entry point to the bridge, where we will be able to take control of the entire ship, and will also provide the quickest route possible to get there, since it will be a direct run into the secondary cargo hold, and from there the bridge."

Having finished the explanation of details, Adam walked over to the cargo door, hitting a button that started opening it, air rushing in as Ilia struggled with the clips and buckles to make sure her parachute was secure. She looked out, shielding her face from the rushing air, and tried not to feel dizzy from vertigo.

"Are you sure this is the only way to get there?" Adam looked at her for a moment, before moving behind her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Just take a deep breath, count to ten, and when you reach ten pull the cord. And it helps to scream." As she took in a deep breath, Adam pushed her.

If she was able to form a conscious thought, Ilia would have admitted that focusing on numbers was good advice. Unfortunately she was too busy drowning in a sea of clouds and struggling to breath as she screamed her lungs out. Her main focus was on trying to count down and not open the parachute too early or too late.

As what felt like ten agonisingly long seconds she tore at the cord like her life depended on it, which it did, and almost cried as she felt herself get yanked up by the air filling the cloth. As she clung desperately to the handles of the parachute and felt water trail down her face, it obviously wasn't almost.

A red streak flew past her, soaring through the air towards the airship that was quickly moving under them. Ilia just angled herself and began gliding down, slowly moving in a controlled descent that had her move in a spiral path downwards as she moved slowly through the air. Eventually she got close enough to just unclip the thing and drop a few meters onto the ship.

"Give it time, and you won't even need the parachute." She turned to see Adam was kneeling by an open hatch. Before she could blow up at him for the small matter of throwing her out of a moving vehicle mid flight, he held up a palm to silence her. "If I didn't act, you would have hesitated too long to jump and wouldn't land on this if you did. If you feel as passionately later, then you may vent your anger. For now, focus on the mission."

Angry as she was, she had to accept his logic. Nodding to his request, he nodded back before jumping inside, Ilia following close behind. As she crouched on the metal grates of the floor, she drew Lightning Lash and prepared to fight.

"Don't bother. Ships like this are mostly staffed by machines, most of which aren't combat units. Save your energy for when we get to either the flight deck, or the cargo hold." As they quietly moved through the Airship, she felt deeply unsettled by the silence. The only noise to be heard was their feet stamping down on the metal floors, and the distant roar of the engines that reverberated through the vessel.

Their trip had not gone unnoticed though, becoming clear when they got closer to the front of the ship. As they walked through quiet and lifeless metal hallways, Ilia kept catching glimpses of movement out of the corner of her eye. Brief flashes of light reflecting on polished metal. The long hallway that stretched and branched off onto identical halls, left her feeling unsettled. With how it all looked so symmetrical, it was beginning to mess with her head, the route just blurring without any landmarks to keep track of the route.

Eventually they reached a set of doors that opened to a wide chamber, a secondary cargo hold for the more fragile cargo, lined with multiple crates stacked in a precise and neat order, all emblazoned with the SDC Snowflake and filled with all sorts of Dust, earned through the blood, sweat, and tears of suffering Faunus.

At least Ilia and Adam would be able to make sure that their suffering would not be for naught.

Before they could go any further, they were quickly interrupted by the loud marching of dozens of Atlesian Knights as they stepped in through the doors at both sides of the room, surrounding the freedom fighter duo in a circle of gun barrels. As they drew their respective weapons, they couldn't help but notice the fresh shine on the machines, along with the slightly larger model of rifle attached to them.

"Now's about when you'll realise these are new models. Only the best for a man of your station, Mister Taurus." From the hallway that would lead to the bridge, out stepped a figure, slowly revealed as he left the shadows. He was dressed in the coat of a Private First Class, with well polished stars and badges across his shoulders. He smirked with a square jaw, glaring maliciously through cold grey eyes. A black gloved hand ran through neatly trimmed black hair, looking the image of a well polished and disciplined soldier.

"It wouldn't do for a man of your reputation to die to some inferior tin men, even with an outstanding pilot. So you'll have the honour to die by my hands, securing my path to victory."

They watched as he grabbed the handle at his belt, he drew a long machete like sword, with a silver serrated edge that gleaned in the light in contrast to the matte black of the blade.

"Ilia. I will handle these machines. You handle the student. Try to  _ Scan _ for anything that can help you." They split off, with him firing a shot at one of the machines as he ran back, cutting down several as he escaped, luring them away as the student who commanded them seethed in rage as he stepped into the hold, while Ilia quietly observed him.

_ [Lv18 _

_ Oliver Barb _

_ Pain is the only way to feel alive] _

"A student? I am more than just a mere student. I am a prodigy! I am on a fast track to become the youngest Specialist in history! I am the future of Ace Ops in the making! I am the one day General of Atlas! Don't you dare disrespect me by calling me a mere student! You're nothing more than a footnote in the history of Oliver Barb!"

Ilia released her sword without a word, and glared at the arrogant student as he sheathed his sword, and grabbed a weird looking knife, where the blade had been twisted such that it resembled a drill more than anything.

"Well then pest, get over here already." She really wanted to not lose her cool, but was evidently found lacking. As her skin turned a hot red, she screamed a mighty battle cry as she ran towards him. She leapt through the air, with a heavy thrust aimed to his chest.

He dodged low, and got a stab in. But instead of shrugging it off, he pushed a button and the drill was coated in green Aura as it began spinning. It hit her in the stomach, and she felt like a blender had activated in her stomach, feeling as her small intestine was shredded and ground into mince meat as blood pooled in her internal organs. Oliver then heaved his shoulders and threw her back.

_ [HP: 1,000/1,746] _

"Hurts like nothing else, doesn't it pest? Don't answer, I know already." She struggled not to scream as she looked at her completely intact stomach in disbelief. 

"Behold the greatest Semblance in the world. Pain Amplification. It makes every hit I make hurt just that little bit extra. Best of all, it goes right through Aura, so I don't have to waste time on breaking that." He walked over and lightly dragged the edge of the glowing blade under her eyelid, smiling as she flinched away and screamed, feeling like it was peeling open the skin.

_ [HP: 900/1,746] _

"Stay down. I won't waste my time on appetisers when a prize steak is being tenderised by my partner." He got up, smiling as she lay still, groaning as her nerves screamed at her. He placed a foot on her throat, relishing as she choked desperately.

As he walked away, he barely heard her muttering about cardboard. He also didn't notice as she vanished from sight and moved over to one of the crates to try and catch her breath in peace. She unfortunately leaned a bit too hard, pushing over the box and scattering Fire Dust over the floor.

Oliver immediately turned back, drawing a trio of throwing knives from within his coat, with blades shaped like kitchen knives and had a thin metal strip for a handle.

"I thought I told you to stay down. You're only wasting everyone's time." He glared at nothing as Dust crystals crunched under his feet. Another crate fell, with Oliver throwing the knives as Combustion Dust mixed with Fire Dust and coated him with the granules. 

"Just accept that you are only a footnote and we can all get on with our day." A crate fell behind him and coated him entirely with Lightning Dust. He growled under his breath and once more drew his machete, even as a crate of Ice Dust was found at him. He swung and knocked the crate away, the Ice Dust staying contained in the box even as it flew away and knocked back the Earth Dust boxes.

"Come out and fight me you fucking rat!" Ilia meanwhile simply moved into the small hallway where she could shield herself as she aimed Lightning Lash. 

"For the love of God, shut up already." And so she shot him in the foot. And in the moment where he lost sensation in his spasming leg, Oliver realised he was standing in a small bomb's worth of Dust that was now exploding. He didn't have any further time to think as he was simultaneously blasted, burned, and electrocuted. 

By the time the screaming was done, Ilia looked inside to see Oliver laying face down in a small crater covered in numerous burns. His precious weapons were blown to pieces with the shrapnel either embedded in his legs and hip, or shot into the hull. His prize coat was now dust and ash scorched into the surrounding crates. And small pieces of metal had melted onto his chest, presumably from more throwing knives he had tucked away.

_ [You have won one Boss Fight: _

_ Pride Cometh _

_ Pride is the Original Sin for a reason, but some people didn't get the memo. Remind this bellend why they should know humility.  _

_ Reward: _

_ Target _

_ Lv1 90 AP/min _

_ You are an assassin, you must learn to strike quick and strike hard. If they're still breathing after the first hit, you messed up. Tag an opponent and see a highlight of any possible weak spots for you to target to bring them down quicker. _

_ You have won one achievement:  _

_ Clever Girl _

_ You managed to win a Boss fight with a stronger foe through ingenuity and cleverness. Let this be proof of your success in the field of battle. _

_ You have earned the Feat (Quick Thinker). _

_ Quick Thinker: _

_ 30s/min _

_ Once per day, slow down by half time for thirty seconds and gain +10% Int in order to have a bit more time to think over your options and plan out things a bit better.] _

As she stumbled down the hallway to the Bridge, a hand still covering her undamaged abdomen, she couldn't help but feel proud in herself for how she had clearly demonstrated her skill and her worth to the Fang. Now no one could question her contribution to the cause.

When she arrived at the Bridge, she was surprised to find that instead of a Captain and his crew, all she found was another Atlas Academy student in a coat just like the one Oliver had worn. This one was a lanky fellow, head covered in shadows from shoulder length golden blond hair that was noticeably unkempt and greasy. The only things of note were his large glasses with the thick and wide lenses that seemed to almost mould to his face, and the projections they were emitting.

It was also important to note that the projections were exactly thirty seven screens, corresponding to the cameras in the thirty seven AK-350 units that were currently fighting Adam according to the screens, even if the number of screens that were just static that declared them inoperable was high and rising. There were also thirty seven keyboards, with his hands flying between all of them at breakneck speeds to keep up the pressure of the fight.

She wouldn't stand for this, and knew that she had to intervene, lest he potentially overwhelm Adam. Walking over, she placed the barrel of Lightning Lash behind his head and placed pressure on the trigger.

"Stop the Knights now, or I shoot." The person paused their typing with one hand and turned so that they could see her. As the greasy hair turned, she finally got a chance to see the bloodshot eyes of the person attacking them.

"Estimated Oliver was more capable. Overestimates in calculations. Should have taken a root by ego. Used 14 significant figures." He resumed typing with his right hand, bringing up three new screens to work on. Ilia simply pulled back the hammer and scanned him.

_ [Lv15 _

_ Aurum  _

_ Endless Fractals, Mind Reflected Infinitely] _

"I mean it. I will shoot you unless you give up." The tech genius' lips curled into a smirk, the madness in his eyes hidden by the light shining in his lenses.

"Incorrect assessment. Relinquish weapon. Execute cessation of hostilities. Potentially lethal force will be enacted." She heard the whirring of serves and gears behind her and turned to see three Ak-350 units, all aiming their rifles at her.

Ilia got a shot off and immediately activated her spell to hide as she ducked down. He didn't even flinch behind his glasses, directing the middle unit to swing a kick that only barely missed her head.

"Invisibility Semblance? Irrelevant. Space limited. Defeat inevitable." She just stayed low and began to slowly inch her way across the floor, slowly backing away from the droids. A few more taps at the screen, and they executed their search and destroy programs, beginning a sweep of the room to find her.

Moving to hide behind one unit, she slid her gun hand under its gun, and shot both of the other units. Reacting in the limited way the code dictated, they immediately began shooting their teammate, while Ilia walked around to try and get to the last two. A quick throw of an empty flask had the pair split up, one observing the object while the other investigated the source.

She released her sword, and tapped its shoulder as she whispered  _ Target _ , and saw the slight crack in the armour of the neck. It hadn’t just appeared, but it was like the nigh-undetectable fault had suddenly gained an almost magnetic quality that her eyes couldn’t  _ not  _ be dragged towards. A quick thrust upward through the crack and suddenly Lightning Lash had stabbed a hole through the CPU.

Before she could make her attack on the last one, it suddenly deactivated as Aurum stepped out with his hands up. Behind him was forty screens, all but one showing static that made it very clear why he was suddenly cooperating.

"Conditional surrender: acceptance. Leave vessel intact. Self and partner." There was only one response to that after he had tried killing her. She walked over and slapped him in the face, using  _ Target _ to find his most obvious weak spot, and shot Lightning Lash below his belt.

He fell screaming and crying, with Ilia taking no small amount of satisfaction as she kicked him in the face a few more times than strictly necessary. Before she could go any further and hit double digits, she was interrupted by a notification from her Scroll and the Game. Opening it revealed a weird message.

_ [You have developed a Skill Mutation: _

_ Target 2.0: _

_ Lv1 90 AP/min per target _

_ You are an assassin, you will not always get the luxury of your target being alone. In such an event, the only way to finish the job is to take them all out before they can fight back. Tag upto three opponents and see a highlight of any possible weak spots for you to target to bring them down quicker. Gain a bonus to hitting those weak points.] _

As she finished admiring her newfound ability, and the fact that it was finally something she could directly in combat, she heard slow clapping as Adam walked into the bridge without even a single hair out of place.

"Well done Ilia. You're taking to this like a natural. Take pride in a job well done, the ship is ours." He moved past her, giving her a pat on the shoulder and a warm smile, before reaching for the radio and dialing the radio to call Thoth.

"Oh, you may want to dispose of them sooner rather than later. I suggest stripping their equipment and going to the emergency door with the broken lock. Just leave them there and I'll deal with them later."

Seems like even in victory, work never stops. Still, even as she heaved and carried the scrawny twig of a man over her shoulder, pocketing his funky glasses for later use, she knew that nothing could beat the joy and pride she felt in this moment.


End file.
